Stupid Cupid
by Feral Phoenix
Summary: Valentine's Day, the most romantic day of the year, is approaching fast. The only problem is that the girls of the Royal Army can't seem to get their act together in time... Spoilers, fluff, some angst, GxY MxK ZxE RxF RxR.
1. Entr'acte

Stupid Cupid

DISCLAIMER: Roses are red, violets are blue, my muses are sadists and Cupid is too. But you guys are nice and won't sue me, because I don't claim any part of Yggdra Union. This is just what would end up happening if I did own it.

It was the beginning of the month of February, and the weather was unusually warm throughout the continental realms of Midgard. All the lands from Embellia to the northernmost regions of Bronquia had been blessed with a respite from the chill air and cutting winds that clearly said snow was on its way; the temperatures were as mild as they had been at the end of the summer season.

Fantasinia's young Queen had happily taken this as a sign that some relaxation was due; hence, all parties involved in the many nations' peace negotiations had decided to take a break for a month or so. The lesser nobles of Embellia, the elders of Lost Aries, and the Temple Knights of Lombardia had all gone home. The Royal retinue and the Imperial representatives had instead decided to stay in Karona, the castle town that lay on the Fantasinian side of the border between it and Bronquia. It was where the negotiations were taking place; the Queen and her friends stayed because a few of their number hailed from Karona, and the Imperials were staying because… well, no one knew exactly why. Aside from the fact that the Emperor didn't seem to feel like going all the way home and then just having to come back again later.

At any rate, the people of Karona were happily playing hosts to their two sets of guests, and the various members of both entourages were strewn across the castle grounds doing whatever pleased them.

A group of four girls sat in one of the tower rooms, looking down into the gardens where a young couple walked arm in arm, talking animatedly back and forth: the Astral Fencer, Russell, and his fiancée, Flone. It was impossible to tell what they were saying due to the distance, but the happy glow surrounding them couldn't be any clearer.

"Flone is so lucky," sighed one of the girls, who sat at the windowsill with her face propped in her hands, toying with the bronze-colored feathers woven into her emerald-colored hair. "I bet she isn't worried at all about what to do. The way they act, she knows Russell so well that getting his Valentine's present shouldn't be any kind of problem for her."

"And she can probably just hand it to him without worrying, too," lamented another, perched a short distance away, watching Russell and Flone out of the corner of her eyes. "It's shameful, but… I can't help but be a little… jealous…"

"Only a _saint _wouldn't be able to help being jealous of those two, Elena," a third girl informed the second. "Just look at them, so cozy it's enough to make you absolutely _sick _with envy. Russell and Flone must be the one-in-a-million couple that actually _gets _that fairy-tale romance. Lucky."

"Well, what kind of stress do _you _have about Valentine's Day, Rosary?" the first girl asked, giving the most recent speaker a dirty look. "You're confident and you can use your magic to cook if you're worried about messing up. Plus half the guys in the castle are totally in love with you. You can make chocolates and give them to whoever you like."

"There's no one I want to give them _to," _Rosary clarified with a frown, flicking her honey-brown hair over her shoulder with an elegant scowl. "No one here is really worthy of my interest. If there was a man around that I liked, maybe I would get something for him, but I don't think I'll be handing out any candy this year."

"What about Roswell?" asked the fourth girl, silent up to this point where she sat hunched over a checklist, her silver tiara set at a skewed angle on her heavy blonde braids.

"What _about _him?" Rosary huffed, crossing her arms. "Why would I waste time, effort, and perfectly good chocolate on a man like _that? _Roswell is my _rival, _in case any of you have forgotten. And he is definitely not boyfriend material."

The other girls in the room exchanged extremely unconvinced looks behind Rosary's back.

"Anyway, what exactly are _you _doing over there, milady monarch?" Rosary asked, artfully arching one long and tapered eyebrow. "You've been running around like mad for the past several days now, and the rest of us would like to know what's going on."

"It's for Valentine's Day," the girl said, sounding surprised. "I have to keep track of everyone. I don't want anybody to get left out."

"Oh, that's right—you're gonna try to get _everybody _chocolate, right, Yggdra?" the first girl asked, crossing her legs and looking at her companion with interest.

"Yes." Yggdra beamed at her friends. "I don't want a single person to feel left out. All the men here should get something special, shouldn't they?"

"It's such a kind thought," Elena said with a smile. "I'm sure everyone will appreciate it."

"I really can't believe you're doing this. It's bad enough for Elena and me just wanting to give _one _present this time of year." The first girl flopped onto her back and rolled over. "So… have you figured it all out yet?"

"Not quite…" Yggdra looked down at her list and tapped it, making a face. "There are a lot of people here who just don't like chocolate and candy that much, like Cruz, and there are some I just don't know well enough to decide what they would like. I want to ask around, but…"

"I'm sure Kylier, Elena, and I could help if you're having trouble," Rosary offered. "We could go interrogate people to find their interests. Or you could ask Flone. I'm sure she's quite the expert on that kind of thing."

"If I need help, I'll be sure to let you all know," Yggdra replied with a smile that clearly said she would do no such thing unless she was _really _in trouble. "Anyway… it's getting closer than you would think, and I should probably get started on the things I'm already sure of." She stood up, smoothed her skirts, straightened her crown, and bowed herself out of the room with her notes tucked under her arm.

The other three girls all sweatdropped.

"She talks around it, but she's probably just stressing about what to give You Know Who," Rosary said dryly. "Gods alone know what _he _likes to eat, but Yggdra's just too stubborn, too stupid, too besotted, or a little of all three to let the issue lie."

Kylier ran her hands through her hair. "Yeah… actually I kind of envy her. I've always thought that war and hate and revenge and all those things are crap, but I'm bad at letting things go, especially grudges. To think Yggdra managed to go from hating the guy to planning on giving him chocolate for Valentine's Day in less than a year… it's incredible. She's really a forgiving person."

"…That's true," Elena agreed. She paused, then turned to her friend. "…Kylier-san, have you decided on what you're giving Milanor-san yet?"

Kylier promptly reddened and made a face. "Uh… yeah, I'm pretty sure. Hope it works out though. What about you?"

"I have everything ready, but…" Elena looked evasively to the side, her cheeks slowly growing pink. "I… I'm not sure how I'm supposed to give someone a Valentine's Day gift."

"I did it last year, so it's not that big a deal for me, but…" Kylier made a face. "Boy, was I nervous then. I chickened out twice before I actually got up the nerve to give Milanor his present."

"What did you do then?" Rosary asked, still teasing her hair between two fingers.

"I bought him chocolate. It felt a little cheap, though, so this year I'm going to try making some myself," Kylier replied.

"By _yourself?" _Rosary asked, slowly beginning to smile.

"Of course _by myself," _Kylier replied, her face reddening.

"Are you _sure?" _Rosary said slowly, smirking and raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, just _shut up," _the green-haired griffon rider snapped, standing up and stomping out of the room.

There was a brief silence.

"You shouldn't tease her like that, Rosary-san," Elena ventured timidly.

"It's _fun _to push people's buttons."

"…Maybe that's why you haven't been able to talk to Roswell-san without starting an argument ever since the two of you joined Yggdra-san's army…" Elena shook her head.

Rosary scowled at her. "My idiot second cousin is just too sensitive. That's all it is." She stood up abruptly. "Have fun deciding how to ambush your beloved Zilva without me." And she sashayed off, clearly miffed.

Elena sighed and slumped down, pressing her face into her knees.

"Valentine's Day is going to be a total disaster this year…"

---

Meanwhile, another member of Queen Yggdra's circle of friends was wandering happily through the castle halls, humming a happy tune to herself as she enjoyed the soft warm breeze floating through the archers' slots along the walls. There was something special in the air, and it wasn't just the weather—unfamiliar with human culture she might be, but she could _feel _it. Something wonderful was going to happen any day now.

"Hi, Nietchan! What's up?"

Nietzsche the undine turned, surprised, to see that a blue-haired, blue-eyed girl had come up to join her. It was one of Yggdra's valkyrie bodyguards, the five sword maidens specially trained to protect her since they'd all been children. Known as the Queen's Flowers to the Royal military because they all had flower names, they looked so similar that Nietzsche still had trouble telling them apart—not only were they all sisters, but they were comprised of a pair of twins and a set of triplets.

"Nietzsche has a good feeling lately," the undine replied cheerfully. "It's like something really really good is just about to happen! I wonder why that is?"

The girl giggled. "Well, of course. Valentine's Day is next week, isn't it? Everyone's busy getting ready!"

"Valentine's Day?" Nietzsche blinked and cocked her head to one side. "What's Valentine's Day?"

"That's right… you probably wouldn't know, would you?" the sword maiden said, raising her eyebrows. "Well… Valentine's Day is a special holiday that's kind of like the day of love. Sometime on that day, a girl is supposed to give special chocolate to the person she likes. Then next month on White's Day, that person has to give her something in return. Nietchan, you probably wouldn't know since you're from Embellia and undines don't have the same culture as humans… but Valentine's Day is really important to people here. Everyone's really excited."

"So… that means that everyone is planning on giving chocolate to the one they like best?" Nietzsche asked slowly. "And so… Yggdra and Kylier, and Rosary and Elena and Flone and everyone are all…?"

"Pretty much. If you want to know more about it, you should probably ask them—I'm not giving anyone chocolate this year, but they've probably all got plans. And Yggtan says she wants to give _everybody _something next week, so if you want to learn more, you can probably go help her with that."

"Everybody? You can do that?"

"Well… Yggtan says she doesn't want anybody to feel left out, so she's giving generic chocolates to all the guys, but there is something special she wants to make for a certain someone, if you take my meaning," the sword maiden said with a little smile.

_"Oh-h-h,"_ Nietzsche replied, starting to grin. "Nietzsche understands!"

"Right? Well, there's no better time for her to go around to figure out what she should give him. It's really the only time she _could _do that without going up to ask him herself. She wants it to be a surprise."

"Nietzsche thinks he'll really be surprised!" the undine girl exclaimed, raising both arms into the air with a laugh. "It hasn't even been long since he and Yggdra actually became friends. It'll be fun!"

"Hn." The sword maiden giggled. "I'm definitely with you there, Nietchan. And, maybe I'm reading into it too much, but… this could be really good for the negotiation. I mean, a relationship like that… doesn't it seem like it would be a good omen for the times ahead?"

"…Yeah."

"Well, I have to go track down my sisters so we can nag Yggtan into accepting some help," the sword maiden told her. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay!"

As the other girl headed off down the hall, Nietzsche stretched and smiled to herself. "…So it's a day of love, huh…?"

---

Meanwhile, hidden in a balcony above the hall where sword maiden and undine had just conversed, a certain pair of blonde valkyries turned to each other with dark looks on their faces.

"…This doesn't look good, Luciana," said the one with silk wrapped over the right side of her face in lieu of an eye patch. "You know how Gulcasa-nii is. If we let that girl get anywhere near him…"

"Then we won't _let _her get anywhere near him," the other replied stubbornly. "Don't worry, Aegina. We'll protect Gulcasa-nii no matter what."

---

Across the courtyard from all this stood the tower where the Emperor and his escort had decided to stay for the duration of the negotiations. The top room, a circular, lavishly furnished bedroom with wide oriel-style windows overlooking the interior of the castle and the surrounding lands, was currently occupied by the Emperor himself and one of his companions.

Gulcasa sat on a bench with his back to said windows, polishing his armor, his expression blank with concentration and his long red hair pulled back from his face so his view wouldn't be obscured. He was only up here to avoid the pathetic looks and whiny, incessant demands of "WHY do we have to stay here?" he knew he would get from his foster-sisters Aegina and Luciana if he ventured outside and they managed to find him. They probably wouldn't bother him up here. This was his room, making it his territory and therefore taboo to anyone who hadn't been invited.

Across the room from him, the blind mage Nessiah sat curled in the cushioned seat before the window that opened onto the courtyard, which he'd opened so he could enjoy the warm breeze from outside. His archaic golden spellbook lay open on his lap, with his hands resting on the pages. He was facing the open air, sitting with his bare feet up on the pillows and his chains trailing along the seat and out the window itself.

"So the Queen prepares her plans in secret to the displeasure of her estranged kin, while the Lady of the White Rose tries to deny her own heart, the brave of Lost Aries attempts a task she may not be able to perform, and our own young assassin gathers her courage…"

Nessiah sighed, stretched, and settled into a more comfortable position.

"Cupid certainly seems to be working overtime this year."

Gulcasa looked over his shoulder at his friend, pausing in trying to wipe a persistent bloodstain off his breastplate. "…I'm sorry, did you say something? I couldn't really hear you."

Nessiah shook his head and smiled.

"Don't worry about it," he told the Emperor with a soft chuckle. "It's nothing."

:TBC:

Notes on the text

**Valentine's Day, White's Day:** The customs described here are associated with the Japanese celebration of Valentine's Day and White's Day. More information on this can be obtained in basically any romance manga.

"**Yggtan", "Nietchan", etc.:** Yggdra's bodyguards have silly nicknames like these for most of the Royal Army, as well as for Gulcasa and Nessiah. Some of these are the Japanese nicknames for the characters, while others were made up by the author.

"**Gulcasa-nii": **Luciana and Aegina call Gulcasa "Your Majesty" in public, but when in private or when around those close to him, they call him "Gulcasa-nii" meaning basically "big brother Gulcasa".

**Timeline:** This story basically takes place a few months after the game's end. In typical Feral fluff style, since this is a romantic comedy rather than an angstfest, this means that a lot of people who died in YU's plot survived the events where they were supposed to have been killed. (Aside from Nessiah, no one miraculously came back to life. And Nessiah only came back to life because that's what he's been doing since he got kicked out of Asgard—remember, according to the game's plot he can't die and stay that way. Feral doesn't like to do that OMG resurrection thing, since it's a standby of bad fanfiction.)


	2. Misadventures With Cooking

Stupid Cupid

See disclaimer in Part 1

Lady Rosary Esmeralda of the White Rose was _pissed._

She was getting _really _annoyed with people always insinuating that she was too mean to everyone around her. It wasn't _her _fault if people couldn't take a little teasing—they needed to stop taking everything so _personally _all the time. She didn't deserve to be made out as some kind of evil person just because she had a sense of humor.

Therefore, Rosary was not a happy camper in the least.

And, of course, her first action upon leaving the company of those who hinted at such nonsense about her was to go out in search of her favorite target so she could relieve her frustrations.

Roughly seven minutes ago, Roswell Branthese of the Black Rose had been lounging in a plush chair in Castle Karona's study, reading an obscenely thick book and basically minding his own business. It had taken Rosary about two of those seven minutes to get him in the mood she liked him in best.

That was to say, he was now every bit as bitchy, defensive, flustered, and irritable as Rosary herself.

Rosary resisted the urge to smirk. It was always _such _a stress-reliever to shove her own troubles in the face of her eternally annoying cousin.

Roswell was two years older than her and a few inches taller, always robed in black and blue-green with the crest of his house pinned at his breast. His pale face was flushed with anger, his clear turquoise eyes were narrowed, his long and silky ash-brown hair was disheveled, and he was all but _vibrating _with sheer fury. Rosary had heard many girls whisper that Roswell was handsome and charming and kind, and when out of his hearing, she _did _admit that he was very good-looking, but she still preferred it when he was flustered, out of sorts, and trembling with the urge to whip out a weapon and start a real fight.

"I _hate _you," the two of them squalled in unison as the other occupants of the room got well out of their way—they'd probably all heard of what the Lord and Lady of Verlaine were capable of when vexed.

_"Why _can't you ever just leave well enough alone?" Roswell demanded, red-faced and indignant. "What is _wrong _with you that you always have to be at the center of some kind of contention? All you ever do is cause trouble—can't you see that everyone around you is _sick _of it?!"

"A fine thing for _you _to say," was Rosary's retort as she tossed her hair and looked down her nose at Roswell with a derisive sniff. "You've been the source of everyone's trouble since day one! But you're too closed off in your own little world to even acknowledge that fact! _Perfect _little Roswell, who always has to come out on top of everyone else—you're so arrogant, and of course you just go ahead and gloss right over the fact that you need more babysitting than anyone else in the Royal Army!"

"It's a miracle that we're even able to open up negotiations with Bronquia after everything _you _did during the war," Roswell shouted, stabbing an accusatory finger in Rosary's direction. "All those times you disobeyed orders, all those times you compromised our objectives—just because you had to satisfy your petty pride! Damn it, Rosary, what is going on with you?! You've changed so much! It's as if you do all these things just because you know they hurt and endanger everyone around you—as if you've turned into someone cruel and cold who gets off on other people's pain!"

_Okay, that does it._ Something popped in Rosary's chest and her vision briefly flashed red. She was _sick _of everyone saying things like that about her. An ugly wave of hatred surged through her body, and before she could stop to think, she was yelling right back. _"I _endangered our objectives?! I carried my weight! I did what was necessary! It was better than all those times we had to cut our plans short just to rescue _you! _In Verlaine, in Paltina and Lost Aries and Ishnad and Flarewerk and even on Ancardia, everyone had to go running to save you because you were so _weak! _You were always making Yggdra worry and all that time I just wished we could leave you damn well _behind! _All those times when you nearly got killed, I wished you'd just stayed home instead of being such a _burden! _You're so weak, you _disgust _me! What I really should've done back then, in Verlaine—I should've just let you die out there, since it was your _own _fault you let the Black Cavalry take your Ankh so easily! And that way I still would've had _mine! _I wish you'd just _died _out there! You'd be a lot more use to us dead than you would—"

And then she noticed the look on Roswell's face, and caught herself, staring wide-eyed and silent, a little shocked that she'd let her worst thoughts all out at him at once like that.

He was standing there with such an expression of unguarded hurt, with all the color draining out of his face and his eyes blank with shock. For a few moments, he just looked so bewildered, so pained, that even Rosary began to regret what had just come out of her mouth. Then his eyes darkened, and his expression tightened, making him look for a second like a willful child suppressing tears—and he clenched his fists and brushed roughly past Rosary, sweeping silently out of the room.

_I… I can't believe I said that… _Rosary stared after him. _Did I… I think maybe this time I went too far…_

Roswell… 

With a start, Rosary realized that there were still people in the room, staring at her out of slightly nervous eyes. Whirling around irritably, she attempted to regain a bit of her composure. "Wh-what are you all staring at?! Hmph!!"

Crossing her arms, she stomped out of the study, flush-faced and secretly worried.

---

Kylier stood poised on the threshold, her entire body taut with the tension she felt, her hands balled into fists and a trickle of sweat running down the side of her face.

_It's no big deal, _she tried to tell herself. _You're going to have to move forward sooner or later, right? This is for Milanor! So stop acting like a baby and get going!_

Still, it was easier said than done.

Kylier had only felt like this once before in all her life—she'd had the same motivation and nearly the same fear then, and the results had been painful and had taken a long time to deal with. It was silly of her—this had nowhere near the weight, and the two situations were completely incomparable—but she couldn't help but think of that day.

It had taken her a long, long time to wrestle around her suspicion, dislike, and jealousy towards Yggdra so that she could realize that the girl who was now one of her closest friends had truly not known what she was getting into when she'd decided to invade and, in effect, raze most of Bronquia. She'd seen the results of the Royal Army's battles—villages in ruins, fields stained permanently red with blood, shellshocked families grieving for their lost loved ones—and her revulsion and horror had made her want to turn back. If not for the painstakingly arranged fresh graves she'd seen at every battlefield—obviously made with care by Yggdra, Milanor, and their companions—she would have lost the willpower to keep going. But she had—and it had been lucky for all of them that she'd decided to.

Kylier had arrived at the Imperial capital city, Flarewerk, to see that the Royal Army's planned siege hadn't been going too well. Yggdra and her troops had all run smack into the impenetrable Arc of Triumph that protected the city gates, and by the time Kylier got there, they were barely holding together. A furious, grief-stricken, and obviously desperate Gulcasa was ordering his elite troops forward, and the Imperial bombardier was blasting away at Yggdra's forces with a magical artifact she'd later learned was one of the contentious Ankhs that had caused the chaotic civil war in Verlaine. The Royal Army had just about abandoned all attempts to get through the gate and was trying to hold a defensive formation around the seriously wounded Roswell, who had nearly killed himself using his own power to cause the other Ankh to implode.

There had only been one thing for Kylier to do, and so she'd gone ahead and done it—she'd attacked and destroyed the Ankh that was left, blowing a big hole in the gate and killing almost everyone around her. She'd been hurt pretty badly, and her poor faithful griffon, Al, had lost his life in the attack, but she'd done it for Milanor, and so she'd had few regrets.

But she'd been scared and jittery and unwilling as hell to actually go do what had to be done.

It was just plain shameful that she felt the exact same way about entering the kitchen.

_I can do this—really, I can!_

Kylier took a deep breath and stepped forward, unsuccessfully trying to quell the butterflies in her stomach.

Exactly what was it about this place that made it so damn intimidating? Kylier looked around, biting her lip. Castle Karona's kitchen was state-of-the-art; many of the people who lived here, including Russell, enjoyed cooking a lot and made sure that they had everything they needed to play around with food to their hearts' content. All the countertops were shiny marble, and from every wall hung a series of wooden and metal pots, pans, and various utensils whose names and purposes Kylier couldn't begin to guess at, since she had never seen them once in her life.

_I am so screwed._

Nevertheless, Kylier reminded herself that this was for Milanor, and ventured with shrinking steps up to the counter, fishing a wadded-up ball of paper out of her pocket.

"Ummm… let's see. I need cocoa and sugar and flour and salt," she said to herself, and headed for a wide double door she hoped was the pantry and not some weird storehouse of scary foreign cooking things. "And butter, and eggs. Why the hell do I need eggs anyway? I can't crack eggs worth shit… and obviously I need a bowl to put it in and then a tray to bake it on." Kylier moaned, but opened the doors and dug around for what looked like the things she needed. "…Okay, I think this is all it."

Dumping her finds onto the counter, Kylier squinted at her set of scribbled instructions. "Melt butter, then add one pint cocoa, one cup each sugar and flour, salt to taste…" She frowned. "How much bigger is a pint than a cup? …Oh well. I guess I'll just put in some of each and see what happens." Biting her lip and hoping this wasn't bad, Kylier dropped the half-melted stick of butter into her bowl, then shook brown and white powder from the three different bags she had on top of it in what she thought approximated pints and cups.

"Salt to taste… well… I don't even know why you'd put salt in chocolate, but whatever."

Kylier scooped out a fistful of salt and sprinkled it into the mix as well.

"Now the eggs." Biting her lip, Kylier picked one up and timidly tapped it against the counter. Upon inspecting it, she saw that there wasn't even the slightest crack in the shell.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Aren't eggs supposed to be fragile? Crack, already." She hit it two more times with no results, then let the temper get the better of her and hit it hard.

The egg exploded all over the counter, fragments of shell nipping Kylier's palm as the yolk and white oozed out between her fingers.

"Ewwwww!"

Kylier dove for the trashcan, shaking the gooey mess off as best she could, then opted for the sink instead. Under the running water, the scratches the eggshells had left started to sting.

"Ow! Gaaah, jeez, I hate this!"

After wiping the counter down with a cloth, Kylier eyed the remaining eggs distrustfully.

"Grrr… I'll get you yet!"

This time, Kylier was more careful, and managed to open hairline cracks along the next two eggs so that she could slowly push the halves apart and drizzle the insides into the contents of her bowl. On the third and final egg, however, she pushed too quickly, and the shell collapsed with a crunch, sending egg squirting all over the bowl with little pieces of shell going with it.

"Uh-oh."

After cleaning off her hands again, Kylier looked down at the bowl and sweatdropped. "There's no way I can get all of those…"

She paused for a moment, then shook her head.

"But then, won't they just break or something when I stir it, or melt or whatever when I cook it? …Besides, the way Milanor eats, he won't even notice if there are little pieces of shell in there. I think."

Even uneasier than before, Kylier shook the bowl a little to settle its contents, then started stirring the contents laboriously with a wooden spoon. After a few minutes, she glanced at the goo she had produced, made a face, and scraped it into the pan she'd gotten out.

"This really better work," Kylier said to herself, and slid the pan of brown goo into the stove. After closing the door, she turned the dial to what she believed to be a reasonable temperature, sat down, and put her head in her hands as she watched warily. She didn't entirely trust her concoction not to explode as soon as it started to heat up.

However, when a few minutes went by without chocolate spattering all over the inside of the oven, Kylier relaxed a little and pulled one of the few books she actually liked—"A Griffon Breeder's Training Manual"—so that she could entertain herself while she waited.

She'd just made it to chapter three when the distinct smell of burning began to fill the room.

"Ack! What the hell—?!"

Leaping up, Kylier turned the oven dial back down and yanked the door open. Instantly, a gray cloud of smoke rose from its interior, rising up to spread throughout the room, carrying along with it the awful smell of burnt chocolate.

As Kylier stood and stared, frustrated and disbelieving, there was a knock at the side of the open door. "Kylier, are you in h—ah, ye _gods…"_

Kylier turned to see that Nessiah was standing at the other side of the room, pulling back from the smoke and covering a cough. "Agh… Ness…? Why—?"

"Your friends sent me to look for you," he told her, raising his forearm to cover his nose and mouth with his sleeve. "Ugh… they want to know if you want to come join them for dinner or—" He was cut off by another storm of coughing.

Kylier sweatdropped. "Sorry! I'll, uh, I'll open a window or something!"

Even after she'd pried both windows open and pushed them as wide as they would go, Nessiah was still coughing. "What are—ugh—what are you trying to…?"

"I keep trying to make things for Milanor, but…" Kylier carefully slipped on oven mitts and pulled out the pan, sending another big cloud of smoke wafting lazily through the room. Her would-be chocolate was crinkled, burnt at the edges, lumpy, and discolored. "I… don't know why this keeps happening to me…"

Across the room, Nessiah winced. "Ky—agh… can we just… just go outside… _please…_ this smoke is hurting my eyes…"

Kylier let out a wail of mixed anguish and frustration, made for the door, and pulled Nessiah along with her, making sure they were safely into the middle of the corridor before she stopped. "I'm soooooorrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

"Don't worry about it—ow." Nessiah sighed. "Just… would you mind checking, to see that they haven't…?" He gestured to the interlocked plates of ensorcelled metal that covered the upper half of his face helplessly, making the links of his chains jangle.

"Sure," Kylier said with an automatic grimace, and stepped towards him, carefully unfastening the first third and pushing his bangs out of the way to look at the ugly, twisted scar that was all that remained of the injury that had blinded him.

Kylier and Nessiah's relationship was a very strange one. The two of them hadn't even met until the huge confrontation on the sunken island of Ancardia, and many members of the Royal and Imperial Armies still weren't happy with what had taken place there, but even though Nessiah had reawakened the Royal Army's own dead soldiers to stand in their way and even tried to control her for a short time, she found that she just couldn't hate him. Those few minutes of intense connection between them had laid his soul as bare to her as hers had been to him, and the only thing Kylier had been able to feel for him was pity. No matter their crime, nobody ever deserved to suffer the kind of torment that most of Nessiah's life had been.

Milanor and the others had no particular love for Nessiah—and had made that very clear by replying to his manipulation of their dead by dealing him a crushing defeat in battle. If Nessiah wasn't bound by these very chains that caused him so much pain, that would most definitely have been the end for him—he'd died wretchedly at the steps of the very temple his real body lay bound in, given the mercy stroke by Gulcasa to save him from a far longer and more painful death from blood loss. As it was, the magic in the Chains of Conviction had forced Nessiah through yet another agonizing reincarnation, bringing him back to life in record time in response to the call of the Gran Centurio.

Pulled by the sword, Nessiah had reappeared only hours after his apparent demise to rescue the Royal Army and Gulcasa from the angel who'd attacked them at Heaven's Gate, holding her off long enough for another angel to intervene and stop the battle altogether. If it weren't for him, everyone surely would have been killed—and so Nessiah was more or less accepted by everyone. However, there were only three people he was really close to: Kylier, Yggdra (who had also been able to feel the cry of his damaged soul through the Gran Centurio), and Gulcasa (who didn't care whether Nessiah was human or a fallen angel and still considered him a friend).

Kylier bit her lip as she stared at the heavy stripes of dull pink scar tissue that stretched across Nessiah's face, sealing his eyelids shut, and tried unsuccessfully not to wonder how he could possibly live with the memory of receiving his injury every day and stay sane. "…It looks kind of puffy already, but I don't think it'll get too bad. Looks like we got you out in time. I'm really sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. And thank you."

"No charge." And Kylier carefully locked the plates back in place.

"…………" Nessiah considered her for a moment. "I… might not be the right person to give you advice on this, because I'm not that much of a cook myself… but next time you might want to consider using grease."

"Eh? Grease? What for?"

"If you grease the pan before you put food into it, it'll both make it less likely to burn where the metal touches it, and make it easier to take out when you're done."

"Oh." Now that Kylier heard it, it sounded so completely obvious that she couldn't help blushing. With a moan, she slumped forward, resting her forehead on Nessiah's shoulder. "I really suck at this. Why am I even trying? I'm _never _going to be able to make Milanor chocolate in time…"

"Don't give up so easily, it's not like you," Nessiah told her, patting her hair. She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was amused, though, which only made her feel worse. "Just take a deep breath and relax. Try again later. For now, throw out your failed experiment and come eat dinner with the rest of us."

"Okay…" Kylier sighed and stood up straight. "I'll be back in a sec."

_And I'll be back for _you, she thought at the kitchen, _tomorrow. You and I ain't done yet._

---

Meanwhile, Yggdra sat alone in her room, moving her pen down the line of checked-off names on her list.

"There!" she said, sitting back with a sigh. "Now, all that's left is…"

She stared at the name that topped her list, and, blushing slightly, drew a circle around it.

"…Maybe I should focus on getting everyone else's done first…"

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Yggdra called, turning in slight surprise.

The door opened, revealing her champion, the young knight Durant, who led the Royal Army's cavalry. "Your Majesty—"

Yggdra shook her head. "Durant, there's no need to stand on ceremony when it's just the two of us. You're my friend. You can call me by name."

"There's no _time _for that, Your Majesty," Durant said impatiently, glancing behind him worriedly. "We need you right now. It's Roswell. He's downstairs in the bar, and…"

"Oh, Durant…" Yggdra sighed, then frowned as the rest of his sentence sank in. "Wait. Roswell… in the _bar? _Why? Roswell doesn't drink. He never drinks. He always says he can't hold his liquor at all."

"He's drinking now," Durant told her helplessly, throwing up his hands. "He seems depressed, but he won't say what's wrong. He'll talk to you. He trusts you. Please, Your Majesty, _do_ something…"

"This is definitely a problem," Yggdra admitted, standing up. "Please take me to him… I just hope I can help with whatever's bothering him…"

"Right away," Durant agreed, and began to lead her down the hall.

:TBC:

Notes on the text

**Rosary's little rant:** The circumstances surrounding the Verlaine battle and the reasons why both Roswell and Rosary survived will be more clearly disclosed later on, although you can pretty much get some of it from what Rosary says here about Leon's involvement.

**Girls who can't cook:** The stereotype in America, Japan, and many other cultures is that women are supposed to have great culinary talent while men aren't good at cooking at all, so romance manga and romantic comedies often make their heroine an awful chef to parody the common view. Why? It's cute watching them stress over making their boyfriends (and/or girlfriends, sometimes) a home-cooked meal.

**Nessiah:** Yes, this is why he's living here with everyone rather than still waiting to come back to life again. The Heaven's Gate battle differs vastly in this version of events from those in the game; more details may or may not come to light in future chapters. As a side note, though Milanor and Rosary are still highly pissed at him, Nietzsche and Roswell have both more or less forgiven him for his involvement in the civil wars in Embellia and Verlaine because he saved everyone's lives in the final battle.

**Wait… Gulcasa… with the Royal Army…?: **Only on a temporary basis. This would involve how the Battle of Flarewerk was resolved, and why Gulcasa is even alive right now in the first place. Which will again be explained later.

"**You don't need to stand on ceremony when it's just the two of us": **After finally getting Elena to stop using the suffix "-sama" for everyone, Yggdra is now trying to get Durant to act less formally, with little success.

**Roswell can't hold his liquor:** There are some 21-year-olds who just should not drink. Ever. Especially when they're depressed. Why? You'll see… Roswell has a fairly frail constitution for a man, so he's pretty much blitzed after imbibing nearly any amount of alcohol. Drinking is just one of a number of things he can't do, like go out in summer without long sleeves. In addition to not being the hardiest person on the planet, Roswell sunburns very easily (how could he not, with that fair skin?)… and therefore he always winds up with a fever when he does… well, I digress, but low tolerance to alcohol is one of Roswell's sort-of secret weaknesses. (Any kind of weakness in a guy who's calm, cool, and intellectual really adds to his appeal… it just makes him that much cuter. /shot)

**Title: **Probably should've mentioned this last time, but "Stupid Cupid" is actually the title of an old silly Valentine's Day song. It seemed a little appropriate, considering the content of the story…


	3. Roswell

Stupid Cupid

See disclaimer in Part 1

When Yggdra and Durant got to the bar, the queen was able to spot Roswell instantly. Whereas almost everyone else in the room was crowded around the circular tables in groups, talking and laughing and toasting the health of the as-yet successful negotiations amongst themselves, the Lord of the Black Rose sat at the mostly-deserted bar itself, slumped dejectedly with his back to the door and his only companions a tall crystal goblet and a half-empty bottle of deep red wine.

"Oh, dear…"

"Sir Durant, you're finally back…? Thank the gods."

Yggdra turned to see that she and her champion had been joined by one of Roswell's necromancer countrymen. This one was slightly older than his lord, still dressed in his heavy ceremonial robes due to the lower temperature of the room, with his bone-white hair pulled back over his shoulders and his ruby-colored eyes anxious.

"Please… what happened here…?" Yggdra asked worriedly, pointing to Roswell where he sat.

The necromancer shook his head helplessly. "All I know is that milord got in an argument with Lady Rosary earlier today. He's usually a little moody every time he and milady have one of their little marital spats, but it's never been this bad before. Lord Roswell is a sensitive man, but he's definitely not one to try to drown his troubles in the bottle. He's always had more sense than that."

"I wouldn't have expected him to do something like this either," Durant admitted, placing his hands on his hips and staring over at the younger man. "Not with his tolerance to alcohol, if it can be called that."

"Lord Roswell isn't as open about his emotions as he should be," the necromancer said, "and he won't talk to any of us, but surely you can get him to explain, Your Majesty. He trusts you in a way that he doesn't trust anyone else. Please, _do _something…"

"I'll try my best," Yggdra pledged. "I just hope I can get through to him so he'll stop. This really isn't good for him, or anyone…"

Nodding to her knight and Roswell's worried comrade, Yggdra slowly wove her way though the crowd, trying to plan what she should say. Would it be better to just engage Roswell in some other topic of conversation and veer him towards the subject of his argument with Rosary, or to confront him straight off? Would he be willing to say _anything _to her either way, even if she appealed to his better sensibilities? She'd never even seen Roswell drunk before, so she wasn't sure if she should prepare for outbursts of violence or severe depression. All she knew was that she had to do _something…_

But as she slid onto the barstool beside Roswell's and got a good look at his face, all her half-formed plans flew right out of her head.

"Oh, Roswell…" she groaned despairingly, reaching out to stroke his hair.

Roswell didn't look drunk at all, at least not in Yggdra's experience of her friends getting drunk. He just looked… _sad, _despairing and tired and completely devoid of his usual composed and noble bearing. There were dark streaks beneath his lovely turquoise eyes, and the lost look of their gaze was enough to break Yggdra's heart. Still worse were the half-dried tearstains streaked over his face: It took so much pain to make Roswell cry. The only thing that betrayed his inebriated state was the faint red flush over his pale skin.

"Oh, Roswell…" Yggdra repeated, slowly shaking her head. "You're going to make yourself sick. Please… you don't have to do this to yourself. You deserve so much better than this." So saying, she reached out and carefully removed the wineglass from his slackened grip, placing it further off than he could reach. "Please tell me… what's the matter? What happened that you're so depressed? I've never seen you like this before—it worries me…"

Roswell let out a short laugh. The sound was bitter, and the pain it held made Yggdra shiver. "So… she was right about that, too? …I really am… nothing but a burden to you all…"

"Don't say that," Yggdra pleaded. "Don't even _think _that. If that's what Rosary told you… then you should know better than to believe it…! So many people wouldn't have lived to see today if it weren't for you, Roswell…"

"You say that, but… I made so many stupid mistakes over the course of the war," was his reply. "From the civil war in Verlaine to the final battle at Heaven's Gate… I've put everyone through so much trouble. It's true, whether or not you try to deny it."

"Roswell, don't put yourself down like that," Yggdra urged, turning him to look at her. "How could we ever have abandoned you in Verlaine? Leon and his men turned right around and attacked you in the middle of the battle. They were slaughtering your people, laying waste to your lands… all you did was try to save the ones depending on you…"

"The point was, I couldn't," Roswell said flatly.

"The point was, you were willing to lay down your life for them," Yggdra insisted. "You fought and fought until you just couldn't anymore. And we… we just couldn't get there in time before Leon caught up with you. But…"

"You could have left me. You could have just went on and defeated the Black Cavalry, routed them. That was what you _should've _done. It would've saved everyone else so much suffering…"

"But it wouldn't have saved _you, _don't you see?" Yggdra laid her hands on Roswell's, stroking one finger along a small scar near his wrist. "No one would ever have had the heart to abandon you with wounds like that."

"Rosary said it would have been better if I'd just died."

Yggdra winced at the harshness of those blunt words, and the raw pain in Roswell's voice as he said them. _Rosary, how could you? You must have known how much those words would hurt him… _"If Rosary really believed that—if she'd truly wanted you to die—then she would have refused to let us in when I begged her to let us treat you at her manor. And besides, what right does she have to say your actions then were wrong? She didn't have to deal with nearly the same situation as you. You weren't conscious then, but I know we told you—as soon as Russell heard about what Leon had done, he got so angry he just took his troops and Rosary's Ankh and left. I seem to recall him saying that Gulcasa had specifically ordered the two of them that you and Rosary weren't to be harmed. So… Rosary is in no position to talk. She never had to fight for her people the way you did."

"But all those other times…"

Yggdra held a finger to Roswell's lips to silence him. "Hush. All those other times… Roswell, don't you see? Whenever there was a dangerous plan we had to fulfill, a risk to be made, a civilian to be rescued, a fort to be captured… you always volunteered to take point so selflessly. I couldn't refuse you—in fact, I think I relied on you too much, pushed you too hard. You were always so brave, always so unafraid of being hurt… even though you came so close to dying on so many occasions. We wouldn't have made it if you weren't so courageous in every single fight we went through. You were an example for everyone in the Royal Army to look up to."

"But in Flarewerk, and at Heaven's Gate, my actions nearly killed us all," Roswell said numbly, shaking his head at her.

"If you hadn't thought of destroying the Ankh at the Arc of Triumph, at the very least we would've lost Kylier when she got the same idea you'd had," Yggdra told him firmly. "Rosary may have had the power, but she wouldn't have done the same. You'd grown to hate the Ankhs by then; she still wanted them for herself. All of us could've been killed if it hadn't been for you. And once we were inside the capital, we couldn't give you time enough to recover—you had to be put under guard then, but how could we not protect you? It was the same in Heaven's Gate. You still weren't up to your full strength, so how could we expect you to throw yourself between us and Marietta when she attacked us on sight? We were just lucky that Nessiah was there, or we would've lost you."

"All the same…" Roswell turned away. "I continually put everyone in danger. And Rosary hates me for it. You have no idea… just how painful that is…"

"She didn't really mean that," Yggdra said helplessly. "Everyone says hurtful things when they get angry, but that doesn't mean they truly believe them!"

"When Rosary told me she wished I'd died long ago… I knew from the way she said it, that she meant those words with all her heart," Roswell said softly, not meeting Yggdra's eyes. "But… how could I blame her for that? There are days when I… I hate myself so much, I…"

Yggdra couldn't stand hearing it. Biting back tears, she threw her arms around Roswell and pulled him close. "Don't you say that! Don't you _ever _say that, Roswell…"

"You're… a kind person," Roswell told her at length. "That you would even love someone so wretched as me… is proof enough…"

"Please don't talk like that," Yggdra begged him. "It scares me to hear you say that. It reminds me too much of the way Gulcasa was, after Flarewerk… you know that he said all those same things, and tried to kill himself so many times… and there's no Emilia for you, no miraculous good news that can turn the way you feel around! If I ever lost you, I…"

She shook her head, unable to articulate her pain, her fear, at the thought.

"I'm sorry," Roswell said gently. "I don't mean to worry you like this."

"Just promise me you won't do anything stupid," Yggdra insisted.

"…I won't. I promise."

The two of them sat in silence, listening to the clamor of the tavern's other customers.

"…I still can't blame Rosary for what she says or does, or for hating me," Roswell said eventually. "Over and beyond my own feelings… that's just the way she was brought up. …I don't know how much you know about the two governing houses of Verlaine, but…"

Yggdra shook her head. "I know very little. Father did say he wanted me to study the political system there, but…" She grimaced. "I never… got the time."

"Ever since Verlaine split off from Fantasinia and divided its ruling body into the Black Rose and White Rose Houses, there's been an intense rivalry between my family and Rosary's that has only gotten worse over time. So far, the House of the Black Rose, and the Branthese family, have been seen as superior to the White Rose, but the Esmeralda family's magical power has been on an upward trend lately. So when we were children, both Rosary and I were under a lot of pressure from our parents. I was told that I was better than her, to never forget she was beneath me. As for Rosary, well, the mantra she grew up on was, 'Never lose to a Branthese'. It's not, I'm sure you realize, dissimilar to the relationship between Fantasinia and Bronquia."

Yggdra nodded, watching Roswell carefully as he told her the story. She'd never heard any of this before, but maybe it was the real reason behind the explosive situation she'd walked into months ago when she'd decided to take her small army through the hills of Verlaine on their way to the Lenessey Mountains.

"I never really cared about the conflict that much, and eventually I let loose on my parents and got them to leave me in peace, but Rosary… she was never able to shake that influence, and so she was raised _very _strictly. That's where her great pride comes from, of course. We were close friends when we were children, but as she got older, it got harder for her to defy the way she was taught… our relationship just kept getting more and more strained, even after our parents died and we were freed from their expectations. Rosary's expectations for _herself _were still very high."

Roswell sighed and shook his head, smiling bitterly.

"She fought. I became frustrated. Our rivalry got less and less friendly. When Nessiah brought us the Ankhs… it was really just the straw that broke the camel's back. Whoever had both the Ankhs would become more powerful than Valois… and prove the might of our house for all time."

"I see…" It was such a sad tale. To think that this had been going on for so long, and both Roswell and Rosary were just victims of their families' design…

"Well…" Roswell traced the mouth of the bottle of wine still before him. "You and Gulcasa have proved it possible to bury old hatred and rivalries once and for all now that the both of you are actively working for peace between the Kingdom and the Empire… but at times like this, I truly do despair of trying to work Rosary around. She's so stubborn, so proud, so forceful… and I fear I just don't have your strength of will."

"It's going to be okay," Yggdra soothed, squeezing Roswell's shoulder. "You and Rosary may not be able to relate just yet, but… the two of you still have the rest of your lives to work things out. As for the immediate situation, don't worry about that, either. I'll talk to Rosary. She's hurt you by saying things like that carelessly, and she needs to learn to think before she speaks."

Roswell gave her a lopsided smile. "You don't have to bother. It's not that big a deal. I know I'm drunk—I'm talking too much. You have your own problems to worry about, too."

"You're important to me, too, you know," Yggdra told him, smiling sadly. "I can't concentrate on other things when I know you're sad." And she held him close again, kissing his forehead affectionately. "You're family to me, Roswell. Family and friends come before everything else to me. Now, come on—you probably need to sleep by now, and you definitely need to get out of here before you get any more drunk than you already are."

Roswell actually laughed at that, shaking his head. "You're probably right about that. Why don't you go on ahead and let Durant and my anxious friend over there know that you've succeeded in prying me from my self-pitying wine binge? I'll be right after you; I can still walk straight."

"If you're sure," Yggdra said, relieved, and hugged him one more time before slipping off her stool and navigating the crowds.

Once he was sure she was out of hearing range, Roswell let the smile drop from his lips and turned towards the near corner of the room, where he had noticed a pair of listeners. He glared at them now, an open threat in his suddenly frosty eyes. "I see you there. Don't think I haven't noticed you following Yggdra around lately. I understand your misguided desire to protect the Emperor, and even your jealousy to some degree, but if you dare try to take it out on that kindhearted, innocent girl, I will never forgive you. If you try to hurt her, and I or any of her other friends hear about it, we will punish you for it—you'll rue the day you were born. Do I make myself clear?"

"Shut up if you know what's good for you," Luciana snarled.

"Try to touch us, and we'll make you sorry," Aegina threatened. "If you think we'll just let that Fantasinian scum take advantage of His Majesty's heart, you've got a hole in your head."

"Or too much drink in your gut," Luciana added with a snort.

Roswell nodded coldly. "As long as the two of you understand the position you're in." With that, he turned away, stood up, and followed Yggdra, only marginally unsteady on his feet, so she could fuss over him and lead him back to his room.

Even if she herself didn't realize she was being stalked, her friends were aware, and every one of them was damned if they'd let her come to any harm.

---

"Come with me, Rosary. We need to talk," was Kylier's only preamble to grabbing Rosary by the arm and hauling her back into the queen's room, where Elena and Yggdra were also waiting.

"What? What's wrong with all of you? Whatever you think I did—"

"Oh, save it," Kylier snapped, clearly annoyed, as she dumped Rosary into the nearest chair. "What's the big deal with you picking another fight with Roswell earlier?"

Rosary reddened, but crossed her arms and puffed up her chest. "And the big deal about that _is? _Fights with Roswell are a fact of life. You should be used to them by now, shouldn't you?"

"Trust us, if it was just an ordinary fight, you wouldn't be getting yelled at," Kylier told her. "After your average everyday pointless argument, Roswell doesn't run off to the nearest bar to get himself plastered!"

Rosary stared, openmouthed. "He _what?"_

Elena grimaced. "It's true. Yggdra told us about it—she's the one who got him out of there. She said that he was very drunk when she found him."

_Shit, _Rosary thought, and winced inwardly. "Well… well, I always have said that my idiot second cousin is just too sensitive! This proves it! That fight was nothing to go drink yourself insensible over!"

Yggdra just shook her head sadly. The young queen looked so miserable, so worried, that it was starting to put Rosary on edge. "Rosary… are you aware that Roswell has been struggling with depression for quite some time?"

Rosary stared. "Are you _serious?"_

"You and I and everyone here knows that you must have said things in that fight that you never really meant, just like in every other fight you've had," Yggdra told her. "The problem is… that not only was what you said extremely hurtful, but Roswell believed you when you said that you wished he was dead. And he agrees with you."

"Do you really wanna go through the same thing with Roswell that we did with Gulcasa not too long ago?" Kylier asked, shaking her head. "And on a holiday, too? Come on, Rosary, we know you care about Roswell more than that."

"Just tell him you're sorry," Elena begged. "Roswell-san is… he won't believe us, but he'll listen to _you _if you say it, Rosary-san!"

"…It's not that easy," Rosary protested, refusing to meet their eyes and clenching her fists. "You make it sound like I'm just supposed to go up to him and grovel. I…!"

"Rosary, please," Yggdra said softly, tears in her eyes. _"Please. _This isn't about pride, or your old feud. This is about Roswell's life—his _life, _Rosary…"

"He's your rival, right? How are you ever gonna beat him, prove yourself better than he is, if he's dead?" Kylier pressed.

"Please, Rosary-san…" Elena laced her fingers together nervously. "Please…"

"If it's really that bad…" Rosary said with a sigh, throwing up her hands. "If it's really that bad, I'll think of something to say. That idiot, always taking everything so seriously…"

Yggdra pressed a hand to her heart. "Thank you… thank you so much…"

Rosary just made a face, embarrassed. "Well… you have to figure out what you're giving Gulcasa, and that's more than enough on your plate right there. I'm just… sick of you people always having to make such a big deal out of everything, alright?!"

Kylier shook her head. "Whatever. As long as we don't have to worry about Roswell slitting his wrists on top of everything else we have to deal with, we don't care what your excuse is."

"Let's get to bed, then, everyone," Yggdra suggested. "Tomorrow's going to be another day of hard work."

:TBC:

Notes on the text

**Verlaine:** If Yggdra and Roswell going back and forth was confusing, then here's the Cliff's Notes version. When the Royal Army decided to go after Roswell first to see if they could convince him he was being stupid—as he's the more reasonable of the two—the fight didn't go for long before Leon decided to interfere and steal Roswell's Ankh, which was not being used because Roswell would've been shooting himself in the foot by firing the Ankh all over his own lands. When Leon attacked, Roswell marshaled his forces to try to strike back, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the Black Cavalry. Roswell was badly injured in the assault; the Royal Army arrived in time to rescue him from Leon's forces, but knew they had to get him help or he would die. Milanor and Nietzsche stayed behind to stall Leon while Yggdra and Durant rushed Roswell down to the White Rose Manor, where he was treated. Rosary went out with them to fight Leon; meanwhile, Russell made off with her Ankh, but because he was pissed at Leon for disobeying Gulcasa's orders, he didn't hang around to help out. Afterwards, Roswell and Rosary called a temporary truce and decided to go with Yggdra until they could get their Ankhs back from the Empire. …That's basically it in a nutshell, at least…

**Suicidal Gulcasa:** As you may have figured, Emilia did not die in Drominos Marsh—she was, however, very badly injured, and although her troops got her back to Flarewerk, it was decided that she probably wouldn't live, causing Gulcasa's unusually emotional, reckless attitude during the Flarewerk battles. Though he was saved in the Chamber of Brongaa, for the next few weeks he remained in a dangerous emotional state. He wasn't "I'm sacrificing myself to resurrect Brongaa and save my people" suicidal anymore (largely because the Chamber of Brongaa was destroyed when Castle Bronquia burned down…), he was "I failed my loved ones and now I don't want to live" suicidal instead. And he remained that way until he was informed that against expectations, Emilia was recovering.

**Why no Kylier or Elena this time?:** Urk. Yggdra and Roswell ate the chapter. Well, Kylier took up most of the last one, and this is important to the story, sooooo… eheh. I'm sorry. (sweatdrop) I'm such a bad person.


	4. Cabaletta

Stupid Cupid

See disclaimer in Part 1

Flone loved mornings, especially the kind where she woke up warm and content, the happiness from half-remembered dreams ebbing into a lingering peace in her heart. And this one was one of the best of those—because of the feeling of possibility she got from the day ahead, and because of Russell's warmth beside her, his arm still wrapped around her waist as he slept.

"I'm a very lucky person," Flone said softly, teasing a few stray strands of Russell's hair out of his face with a smile. Who wouldn't believe in blessings, in happy endings, when it would've been so easy for the Royal Army to have passed her by in Karona's dungeon, so easy for her not to have reached Russell in time to stop their battle, so easy for the war itself to have ended much more tragically than it had? It would've been so much likelier for things to turn out badly, and yet here she was, happy and warm with her fiancé beside her, literally counting off the days to their wedding.

She didn't deserve such happiness, but she had it—and she wanted to help others find it, too.

Flone leaned across the pillowcase and kissed Russell's cheek, then slowly began to sit up. Before she got far, though, Russell frowned and reeled her back in with an inarticulate moan of protest.

"It's _cold _out there," he reasoned sleepily, half-opening bleary red eyes. "Stay in bed with me."

"I wish I could," Flone said with a slight shrug. "But, my dear, there are a lot of people less fortunate than us who I think need my help today. Besides, if I don't go, Kylier is going to destroy your kitchen entirely."

Russell gave an exaggerated sigh and looked at his fiancée out of reproachful puppy eyes. "That's a low blow, Flone. You know I can't keep you here when you're defending my kitchen."

_He is so **cute,**_ Flone thought to herself with a giggle, and ran her fingers lovingly through his hair. "Don't worry, I'll save it. Those horrible failures at cooking won't decimate it too badly, I promise."

Russell swatted at her lazily, making her giggle even more. "Taking advantage of me when I'm tired is a dirty trick, too, you know." Then he started to smile, easing himself up on his elbows. "You know what this means, don't you? Flone has to pay the toll if she wants to leave early…"

"Gladly, with interest," Flone replied, still laughing. "As if that wasn't your plan all along."

"Guilty as charged." Russell leaned in and kissed her, first softly, then more insistently. Flone sighed blissfully and embraced him as he shifted, covering her body with his.

_I really am so lucky, _Flone thought to herself, her heart full of love and her arms full of Russell. _I'm so blessed to be right here, right now, with nowhere else I would ever rather be…_

---

"Where are _you _going? I thought the whole point of staying here was that you wouldn't have to leave for anything," Nessiah pointed out in a teasing tone, leaning against the brick wall as he watched his Emperor tightening the saddle girth on his dragon.

Gulcasa started, then turned with a wry smile. "Caught me out, didn't you? …Well, not that it's any of your business, my nosy friend, but considering that Karona and Ishnad are so close, I'm going to go pay a visit to Baldus. I haven't been down to see him for a while, after all."

Nessiah sobered instantly. "You know you don't have to keep beating yourself up about that," he said softly, standing up straight and taking a few steps forward to lay a hand on Gulcasa's shoulder. "Baldus did what he did for all of Bronquia. If it hadn't been for him, you wouldn't have been able to evacuate nearly as many civilians as you did… and I know you—you wouldn't have been able to just run off and help him if it meant abandoning your people."

Gulcasa just looked at him, wearing the serene expression that, as Nessiah knew very well, he only used to cover deep anguish. "After my parents died, Baldus was like a second father to me and the girls. It's only right that I should head back there, pay my respects. I couldn't save him. I should've been able to. You know I can't forgive myself for failing like that."

"Well, far from it that I have the right to command the way you feel, but I don't think Baldus would like to see you acting like this," Nessiah admonished gently, shaking his head. "Still—I know better than to think you'll listen to me. Go on, and don't be too conspicuous about it. People will worry about you."

"Emilia and the twins know where I'm going."

_"Yggdra _will worry about you," Nessiah clarified.

Gulcasa instantly flushed. "If she really _is _worried, you can tell her where I am. I'll be back in two or three days anyway, it's no big deal."

"She hates to see you get depressed," Nessiah pointed out, examining his nails. "Even if she knows that it's something you feel you have to do, she'll still be afraid for you. I don't think I have to tell you why."

"I'm not like I was back then," Gulcasa protested, shaking his head helplessly. Nessiah noted with interest that he was blushing even worse than before, so much so that even the pointed tips of his ears were red. "I'm not going to try anything stupid, okay? That was… that was different, that was Emilia. And I didn't know if Luciana and Aegina were going to make it either…"

"She knows that, but she'll still worry. She cares about you. Irrational as that might seem to you at the moment. Just make sure you get back _quickly, _she's got enough on her plate. As I understand it, she's trying to mediate a rather ugly disagreement between Roswell Branthese and Rosary Esmeralda right now."

"Oh, for crying out loud…" Gulcasa headslumped. "I just don't understand women…"

Nessiah held back the urge to laugh. "You'd better get going, then. Give him my regards once you're there."

"…sure…" Gulcasa swung himself up into the saddle, patting his dragon's neck as it pranced in place, eager to start moving.

"Tell Her Majesty not to worry—we'll take good care of him," piped up one of Gulcasa's bodyguards helpfully, giving Nessiah an easy salute. "It's our job, after all."

"Yes, yes." Now Nessiah actually _did _laugh. "You always have, to everyone's gratitude. Go on, get moving. Don't let me hold you back."

Gulcasa shook his head, but motioned for his two dragon knights to follow him, then nudged his dragon's side with the heel of his boot, causing it to take off at a quick trot down the hillside towards the castle in the distance.

Nessiah folded his arms and watched the Emperor leave, smiling to himself. Playing the matchmaker was exhausting sometimes, but using what he knew to tease Gulcasa sure was fun.

---

Kylier glared into the kitchen suspiciously, clutching her list (to which she'd added grease) in one hand and shoving the other into her pocket.

"Okay, let's try this again…"

Taking a deep breath and hunching her shoulders, she walked into the room and got her ingredients out of the cabinet. She'd just spread them all out on the counter and was about to get started on her second attempt when a knock at the door made her jump three feet in the air and spin around in a panic.

"The cavalry is heeeeeeeeeeere!"

Kylier stared, putting a hand to her heaving chest. "Oh, my _heart! _Ye _gods, _don't go sneaking up on me like that! That just took fifteen years off my life! And what are you doing down here, anyway?!"

The two girls standing in the doorway turned to each other, then looked back at Kylier.

"Hey, is that any way to treat people who are just coming in here to help?" Emilia pouted, annoyed.

"Nietzsche just wants your Valentine's Day to turn out well," the undine whimpered, giving Kylier huge, sad eyes. "Is that… is that bad…?"

Kylier sweatdropped. "No… just… you startled me! And…" She folded her arms and gave the girls a suspicious look. "Who told you I was down here and what I was doing?"

"Nessiah did," Emilia and Nietzsche chorused.

Kylier groaned. _That little—ugh, I oughtta… I can't believe this! Does he really think I'm going to need help from a couple of kids?_

_Well… then again… considering last time… I actually might. It was just real luck that I didn't blow up the oven. Russell and Flone will KILL me if I blow up their oven. And besides, with the smoke… Nessiah's eyes could've gotten really bad. So… I hate to admit it, but… I guess he might be right…_

With a sigh, Kylier looked from Gulcasa's little sister to the youngest member of the Royal Army and back again. "Look… do you two know anything about cooking? Have either of you cooked before?"

Emilia shrugged. "Before the revolution, I used to cook for Aegina, Luciana, and my brother sometimes."

"Never!" Nietzsche admitted cheerfully. "But, Nietzsche's sisters liked to cook, and Nietzsche always watched. How hard can it be?"

_You have no idea. _"Well, as long as you have some experience, 'cause I don't have much idea of what I'm doing. I really suck at this, but I've gotta do it for Milanor."

"But you used to live out in Lost Aries, right? How did you _survive _without knowing how to cook?"

Kylier averted her eyes. "I just made other people cook _for _me. Or ate stuff that didn't require cooking. Now can we concentrate on the task at hand, please?"

Emilia covered a giggle. "Fine, fine."

"What do we need, then?" Nietzsche asked.

"Well, first we need butter, cocoa, sugar, flour, and salt," Kylier explained. "Oh, and somebody has to grease the pan with the butter. Why don't you do that, Nietzsche?"

"Okay!"

"How _much _of those things do we need?" Emilia asked, stretching up on tiptoe to try to peek at Kylier's list.

"I dunno. It's all in pints and cups and measurements I don't understand."

"Jeez, you really must've grown up in the back of beyond," Emilia said scathingly. "A pint's twice as much as a cup. Don't you know _anything _about cooking?"

"No, I _don't, _and shut up before I have to smack you, you little twerp."

Emilia rolled her eyes. "What_ever. _Just go get a measuring cup or something. That'll help someone as thick as you fix chocolate."

"A wha?" Kylier asked blankly.

Emilia headslumped. "No wonder you suck at this. Never mind, I'll go find one on my own!"

As the little redhead trooped off towards the pantry, Kylier growled to herself, then sighed and watched after her. "You sure you don't need a stool or something to get to the top shelves?"

Emilia rounded on her furiously. "No I do not! Stop treating me like a little kid!"

As Kylier opened her mouth to give a scathing retort, she was interrupted by a tug on her horsetail. "Nietzsche's done! Now what do we do?"

The green-haired griffon rider sweatdropped. "Okay… first of all… don't yank that. And… well, let's check the list, okay? Besides, Emilia wants to go look for a measuring cup or whatever."

There was a knock at the door that made all three of them turn.

"Oh, my… then I've made it in time?"

Kylier gave a long-suffering sigh. "Lemme guess, Elena. You heard that we were trying to cook and decided you just _had _to come down to help too?"

"Well…"

Kylier groaned aloud. "Man… I bet Nessiah told you, too, didn't he?"

Elena sweatdropped. "He's just trying to help…"

"Yeah, I'm sure he is," Kylier grumbled, disgusted with herself. "He's also being an insufferable pain in the rear, because that's what he does best. Rubbing it in like this… jeez. The little cretin."

"Um… don't be mad… he really is just trying to be helpful…!"

"I know, I know." Kylier made a face. "And I can't ever stay mad at him. So I'm going to be good and mad while I still can be. Now, you know your way around the kitchen, right?"

Elena nodded. "Y-yes… I just hope I can be useful to everyone…"

Kylier sighed. "Well, come on in and let's see if we can make use of you."

"The more the merrier," Nietzsche chirped.

"Found it!" Emilia cried triumphantly in the back of the room, holding up what looked like a miniature glass pitcher with black markings down the side.

"Okay then… let's get down to business."

---

Yggdra looked up from setting the tiny squares of chocolate she'd prepared into a box as she heard footsteps, then smiled as she recognized her guest. "Good afternoon, Nessiah."

"Hello, Yggdra." Apparently perceiving Yggdra's greeting as an invitation to join her, the violet-robed mage sat down next to her on the cushioned window ledge. "Almost done, I see?"

"As soon as I'm finished here, I'll have almost everyone's chocolates done," the young queen said proudly, smiling brightly at the results of her long labor. "There are just a few people left."

"You know… part of the reason I came to see you was to give you a message from Gulcasa," Nessiah said at length. "He's gone to Ishnad for a few days so that he can visit Baldus' grave." As Yggdra's smile abruptly vanished and her brow creased with worry, Nessiah held up a hand. "He also gives you express orders not to worry about him. His guards are going with him, and they promise to take good care of him."

"I… I know." Yggdra looked down at her hands. "I just hate to see him upset…"

"Sorrow and suffering have always been a part of Gulcasa's life," Nessiah said with a helpless shrug. "Hopefully that will change now that the alliance is forming, but… it's going to take him a while to let go of his self-blame from the war. You have to realize that by now."

Yggdra nodded, miserable and silent.

"Although… part of the reason I'm telling you this is because—as you have to realize—this is your best chance to ask around to decide on a gift for him. Most of the people here are on your side, and want to see this relationship work." Nessiah thought about mentioning Luciana and Aegina, but decided better of it. "Anyway, you can't let yourself get distracted now. This is important, isn't it?"

"…Yes, I know." Yggdra sighed. "Um… do you have any suggestions, Nessiah…?"

"I was only with Gulcasa for about a year or so before the war, so I don't know everything about his tastes in food, but I can say that I've never seen him eating chocolate or candy of any kind. Now, that may be because he doesn't like things like that, or it could just be that he wasn't allowing himself any excesses considering the major crop failures that year—you'd be better off asking someone who's known him longer."

"…Oh…"

"Sorry I can't be of much use," Nessiah offered with a grimace, but Yggdra shook her head.

"No, don't worry about it. You've already been such a great help in the negotiations, it wouldn't be fair to ask any more of you." Closing the box of chocolates, Yggdra shifted it to the floor, scooted closer to Nessiah, and gave him a one-armed hug. "I'm just so glad that you and the others are so supportive."

"You're always welcome to our help," Nessiah replied, flushing slightly. "After taking us all in the way you have… there's nothing any of us wouldn't do to assist you."

Smiling, Yggdra let him go. "If you really think so."

The two of them sat in silence for a moment.

"If you don't mind my asking… I've been curious about this for a while, but…" Nessiah shook his head. "From my experience in the war… Gulcasa always hated you, and all Fantasinians. But when you came to Ancardia that time… the two of you already seemed to be close. I know the general idea of what happened in Flarewerk, but… I don't really understand how the gap between you closed so quickly."

"I'm not really all that sure myself," Yggdra murmured, shaking her head. "We hated each other, and even when I began to understand what invading Fantasinia had really meant for him and everyone in the Imperial Army, my own actions against the people of Bronquia only made him hate me that much more. I think… I think it was because of what happened at the end, in Flarewerk. I just… I was so sick of seeing people die. We'd lost so many good people, killed or almost killed so many of Gulcasa's loved ones, and Kylier and Roswell were both so close to dying… and when I realized that Gulcasa meant to sacrifice himself to Brongaa, I… I started thinking, what would his people do if something happened to him? And then, I just… couldn't let him do it."

Nessiah sat silently and listened as Yggdra carefully chose her words, obviously trying to sort it out herself. "Afterwards, he was just… I'd never seen anyone so lost or, or helpless before. It hurt so much to see that he'd abandoned his will to live. I… I'd started caring about him, and I just couldn't stop. It was over for me the minute I began to worry about his well-being." She looked up into the distance and shook her head. "But… I don't think that bond really formed until the day we found out Emilia was going to be okay. Until then, Gulcasa had acted like he was already dead, but… hearing those things, and seeing his sister, woke up something inside him. He finally broke down and cried, and I couldn't leave him then. I promised that as long as he needed me, I would stay by his side. Then, when you raised Ancardia and I gathered the Royal Army to go investigate, and he followed us… he might have said he was just fulfilling his debt, but I think we both knew it went deeper than that. That was when he became _one of us… _when he became my friend."

Nessiah gave her a crooked smile in response. "You saw him at his most vulnerable, and you healed him. I'm sure… that his gratitude was what finally ended the cycle of hatred between you. Yggdra… you may not know this, but Gulcasa hates being in the presence of others in his moments of weakness. And he doesn't often allow himself the luxury of tears. You've seen a side to him that few others have been privy to—the two of you are linked in a way that can't be broken." His smile grew, and he covered a quiet laugh. "I'm sure that's part of the reason he has no idea whether he's on his head or his heels when he's around you."

Yggdra blushed bright pink and smiled at him. "…You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Definitely," Nessiah replied, struggling to keep a straight face. "This is a _lot _more fun than causing wars. I don't know why I haven't tried it earlier." Giving up, he flashed the young monarch a mischievous smile. "I really do want to help, you know."

"You're a sweeter person than you give yourself credit for," Yggdra told him, putting her arm around his shoulders again. "And that reminds me—what would _you _like for Valentine's Day?"

Nessiah instantly went crimson. "Y-you don't have to—"

"I _want _to give you something. You're my friend," Yggdra said pointedly. "Now: What would you like?"

"Anything is fine."

"Nessiah…"

"I mean it—anything is fine," he repeated, shaking his head. "It just makes me happy that you would go to the trouble for someone like me."

"If you're _sure," _Yggdra relented, sighing. "I should probably get back to work."

"That's fine." Nessiah stood up, stretching. "I need to find Flone, anyway. I hate to disturb that elated brilliance of hers, but Kylier and some of the others have invaded the kitchen and may do considerable damage if someone with sense isn't there to stop them."

"Break the news gently. I'd hate to put Flone in a bad mood," Yggdra said meekly.

"I doubt that's possible, the way she's been acting lately. I can't even tell which particular glow is brighter—that of 'Getting Married' or 'Getting Laid'."

"Oh, you." Yggdra giggled and swatted at him. "Go on, enlist her help. I'll work on Gulcasa's present, don't you worry about me."

"It's hard to stay concerned for you," Nessiah told her as he retreated from the room. "You have a way of always reaching your goals sooner or later."

:TBC:

Notes on the text

**Baldus:** (squirms) The only reason he's not alive like the others is because I couldn't figure out how the hell I was supposed to rescue him and keep the story intact. He's as stubborn as the Black Knight from Monty Python (even if I cannot really picture Baldus threatening to bite anyone's legs off), and literally won't let you go unless it's over his dead body.

**Gulcasa with the Royal Army, revisited:** They left for Ancardia; Yggdra had explained it to him beforehand, and even though he'll never admit it to anyone, he was worried, so he collected his bodyguards and went after her. He didn't realize that Nessiah was the one behind everything, however, until the final confrontation at the Great Temple (he showed up a bit late).

**Gulcasa's nearly nonexistent softer side:** Some of the details here are canon, such as the fact that he only angsts about things once he's kicked everyone else out of the room first. And he really does hate looking weak in front of others; you rarely see him falter unless he's received a real mental blow—usually the death of a comrade.

**Crop failure in Bronquia:** The wheat fields weren't producing enough usable grain, so the people had a tight few years. One of the first things Gulcasa did when he started taking Fantasinian land was to liberate a little of their surplus to feed his own people. More about this may be elaborated later.


	5. Devotion

Stupid Cupid

See disclaimer in Part 1

_He lay broken and bleeding out the last of his life onto the stone steps with the knowledge that if he couldn't lift himself just one more time, drag his failing body those last few inches, then it all would have been for nothing. But it felt as though he couldn't do it. He just didn't have anything left. The Chamber was awakening, its power redoubling as it sensed its ruler's return, pressurizing the atmosphere still further. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. It was all too much._

_He tried to take in air, choked on the smoke around him, and shuddered. Fire. The whole place was on fire. It felt like his own body was on fire. It was leeching the life out of him, inch by inch, and he didn't have much left to spend._

**It hurts…**

_He coughed and shuddered, watching hazily as his blood steamed on the cracked marble steps. So strange. He'd always loved the taste of blood, and yet it was burning his throat from every time he'd had to stop, barely supporting himself with his scythe, to cough and vomit what had to have been pints of it into the flames until his insides felt raw and twisted._

_His whole body ached from exhaustion, but he could barely even feel the scores of wounds he knew he had. He'd thrown off his blood-soaked, sweat-stained armor along the flaming hall—he knew he wouldn't have been able to move with its added weight—and his clothes were ripped and blotched with red, his skin and muscle torn with the edges of broken bones still visible. A cut on his forehead stung and throbbed absently as blood streamed from it into his eye and down the side of his face, then into his hair and onto the ground._

**I can't do this…**

_The beast seethed inside his body, impatient and excited, causing a crunch of pain through his spine. All through that last fight, there'd been another voice speaking through his voice, phantom claws stretched through his arms, sharp pain along his back where wings and scales had wanted to sprout. Brongaa was taking over, slowly but surely, and he couldn't do anything to stop his loss of control—the nameless horror bit at him just as much as the dragon's calculated invasion into his mind and soul._

_He had to do this—if only so that the agony of sharing his body with this creature would end, so that he would die human… die himself._

**I… I'm scared…!**

_He closed his eyes against the tears he feared might come, and strained to rise. His body, pushed so far beyond its limits, wouldn't budge._

_Was this how it was going to end?_

**Everyone… I'm sorry…!**

_He'd failed all of Bronquia. His people… his family… and worst of all, himself._

_He truly was a worthless waste of an Emperor._

**It… hurts…**

---

Gulcasa opened his eyes and sighed, staring up into the open sky above him.

It was an absolutely beautiful day. There were few clouds, the sun was bright, the breeze was warm, and the sky was blue. However, it wasn't doing much for the Emperor's mood—he sat in the long grass, his back against the tall stone monument that had been raised there at the end of the war, with a grave, pained look on his face and the weight of truth on his heart.

"That time… when I thought everything was over, that no matter what I did, I was going to die…" he said softly, hesitantly. "Before I realized what was happening, she was there. She was the one to pull me back from the abyss… she was crying. She held me, and she cried, and the only thing she said, over and over… was 'Please don't die'."

He was silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts before he put them into words.

"I dream about it all the time. What it was like, suffocating, bleeding… dying… I couldn't admit it even to myself at the time, but I was so afraid. There was no way out but death, but I was afraid to go like that. I understood then… that releasing Brongaa would tear my body and soul apart. And knowing that… it was the fear that paralyzed me as much as my own physical weakness.

"But every time it gets to that point, even in my dreams… I see her face, and the nightmare ends.

"Through all these years… I don't think I've ever trusted anyone this much. Not the twins, not Emilia, not you, not even Nessiah. Even though she used to be my enemy… I think now that maybe she and I aren't as different as we used to believe. I think… I think this really might be it.

"And I don't know what to do.

"If you were here… if you could answer me… I know you'd be able to give me the advice I need. I know you'd be able to help me move forward again.

"I'm sure…"

Gulcasa looked back at the stone, then resettled himself against it with a sigh. Alone on the hillside, he lay against the monument that marked his beloved mentor's resting place, torn between what his heart told him and the bitter knowledge he held.

---

Kylier gritted her teeth and tried not to growl out loud. Giving in to her frustration would do absolutely nothing but make her feel better for a few seconds. Besides, doing so would scare off her help. And Nietzsche, Emilia, and Elena really _were _trying to help.

Even if they were actually doing _anything _but.

"N-n-now, Nietzsche-san, you have to be more careful when you crack the eggs, or—"

"Nietzsche's fine! You don't need to keep saying so!"

"Well, yeah, but look at the total and complete mess you're making! You suck as bad as Kylier does!"

"Heyyyyy, Nietzsche's not the one who kept saying we had to put in half a cup of salt, so be quiet!"

"Um, um, please, you two…"

Kylier groaned aloud. This was going absolutely nowhere fast. Her chocolate was _never _going to get done…

"Well, well, looks like I got here just in time," said an amused, familiar-sounding voice at the door.

Kylier turned, exasperated. "Rosary, what are you doing here? Don't tell me you decided to put off apologizing to Roswell by jumping the bandwagon and coming to 'help' the rest of us in the kitchen?"

Rosary twitched, turning pink. Kylier deduced that her guess had been right on target.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that for today, anyway," the griffon rider said, shaking her head. "He doesn't want to see anyone at all today. He's got the hangover from hell, meaning he's bedridden and violently sick, and he's not letting anyone but Yggdra and his attendants come within twelve feet of him. You'd either irritate him or make him even more miserable by bothering him."

"…nngh…" Rosary colored further, crossing her arms and hunching her shoulders. Kylier thought she looked guilty about it, and was vindictively glad. "W-well, that doesn't matter, because I'm in here to help _you, _hopeless ingrate that you are. All the rest of you, move over so I can set things right."

"Whatever." Emilia backed off, rolling her eyes. "At least _you _know how to cook."

"Yes, I do." Shooing Nietzsche away from the eggs, Rosary competently broke the shells and pulled them apart, dumping whites and yolks into the bowl. "Now clear off and let me work, kids."

Silently, Rosary stirred the mix of egg and powder into a thick, glutinous goo, then scraped it from the bowl onto the greased pan and stuck it in the oven.

Elena turned to Kylier and gave a tacit little sigh. Kylier nodded, grimaced, and earnestly mouthed "I know what you mean" in her direction.

However, instead of turning up the dial, Rosary pulled out the coal drawer beneath the main shelves of the oven, stared at it for a moment, then pointed at the coals themselves, causing them to burst into flame.

She then shoved the drawer back in and closed the oven door.

"AUGH! Idiot! Idiot! What do you think you're _doing, _you stupid dummy?!" Emilia yelped.

"R-Rosary-san! Please… the chocolate, the chocolate's going to…!" Elena cried, clearly flustered.

"What's wrong with you two?" Rosary asked, frowning. "This is the way I always cook. It's fine."

"But, but, look!" Nietzsche told her, pointing.

The goo in the pan was flaming joyfully.

"What?" Rosary stared. "But, that's…?"

"We're cooking _manually, _not _magically, _you stupidhead!" Emilia yelled. "Hurry and put the fire out!"

As the other girls swarmed around the oven, Kylier leaned against the counter and sank to the ground, pressing her face into her knees. She was so frustrated, she could just cry. At this rate, she was _never _going to be able to make Milanor chocolates in time…

"Oh, dear… you all have made a mess in my kitchen, haven't you…?"

Kylier looked up, wide-eyed with surprise. Flone was standing at the door with crossed arms and a grimace; Nessiah was at her side.

"Looks like we just made it before things got ugly, too," Flone commented, staring pointedly at the smoking pan and the other girls' guilty faces.

"You all _do _know that when I told you Kylier was in the kitchen and needed help, I wanted you to find _Flone, _right?" Nessiah asked wryly. "This is important to her, and all of you are just making a mess of things. Elena is just too polite to be effective damage control by herself."

"Let's get rid of this first, shall we?" Flone said with a sigh, heading over to Rosary and the others and the still-smoking would-be chocolate.

Kylier watched her for a moment, then turned back to Nessiah, who was trying to cover a cough (the smoke was probably bothering him again), stood, stared for a moment, and then flung her arms around him, pressing her face into his shoulder to stifle a sob.

"It's going to be okay now," Nessiah soothed, returning the hug and patting Kylier's hair. "Flone knows what she's doing. You don't have to worry about anything anymore." As Kylier stood up straight, he made a face. "I really am sorry about this. I thought they'd understand what I wanted them to do, but…" He shrugged. "And it took me a long time to find Flone. But since she's here now, then…"

"It's okay," Kylier said with a shaky smile, her eyes stinging. "Thank you."

Nessiah hesitated, then gently touched her face. "…Don't cry. It's going to be okay. I know how much this means to you. Flone can take care of it, so don't stress about it. You can learn from her. She'll—" Suddenly pulling back, he covered another burst of coughing. "Ugh…"

"Look, it's okay—you just need to get out of here. We both know you can't take standing in the smoke for too long, it's going to irritate your scars, and they'll swell up and—" Kylier covered a shallow gasp. "Oh my God."

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," Nessiah said from behind his hand, coughing again.

"You little liar, you most certainly are _not," _Kylier yelled, staring. "You're bleeding!"

"I—what?" Nessiah clapped a hand to his cheek, suddenly noticing the thin ribbon of blood sliding down it like tears. "Oh—oh, damn—"

"Flone, I—" Kylier turned to the other girls beseechingly.

"Don't worry about it, just go," Flone told her. "Cleanup will take a while, don't worry—just get Nessiah down to the doctor. That needs to get looked at."

"Right…" Grabbing Nessiah by the wrist, Kylier pulled him out of the room and down the hall before he could offer a single protest.

---

"Hello—I hope you don't mind my intruding. I just wanted to see how you're holding up…"

Roswell groaned and opened one eye to look at her. "…Yggdra…?"

"Oh, dear…" Yggdra walked over to his bedside, setting the tray she carried on the table and sitting down in the chair that had been dragged up there. "You're not feeling any better, are you…?"

"For what it's worth… my headache's not so bad, and they say my temperature's going back down," Roswell offered, giving Yggdra a weak smile. "You shouldn't worry so much… it's my own fault, anyway…"

"Don't act like that," Yggdra murmured soothingly, stroking his hair. Inwardly, she was a lot more worried than she let herself look—Roswell's skin was clammy, and even though his forehead was hot to the touch, he was shivering. He was even paler than usual, too—ashen right to the lips. "Whenever you get depressed you always take everything out on yourself. It's not healthy. Just relax. You don't have to lay blame on anyone, you just need to get better."

"…You're probably right, as usual," Roswell sighed, closing his eyes.

"Have you been able to eat or drink anything?" Yggdra probed, watching anxiously.

"I can handle liquids, but just the thought of food makes me feel sick. I've tried once or twice, but I can't keep anything down at all."

"I see…" Yggdra picked the small teacup off the tray she'd brought. "Then, please, drink this. It's weak peppermint tea with milk. It should help you feel better, and get back to sleep. I've talked to the doctors, and they say that it's best that you try to sleep this off if you can."

"Thank you…" Roswell opened his eyes, tried to straighten up a little, and accepted the cup. Yggdra leaned in and put an arm around his shoulders to help him sit up while he sipped at the tea. "It's warm…"

Yggdra smiled as he finished it. "I'm glad you like it."

"Not just the tea," Roswell told her, handing the cup back to her. "You. Just being around you makes me feel warm… safe… protected. It's the aura you have… like a mother would, you spend your life happily giving everything you have to those around you. That selfless air of yours… it's so much of the reason why you're such a successful monarch. Fantasinia has needed a queen like you for a long time. You bring out the best in everyone around you, and you make us want to be able to smile and forgive everything like you do. There's no reason for you to spend your precious time catering to someone who drank himself sick, but you do it anyway… because that's just the kind of person you are… so open-hearted, so loving."

Yggdra blushed badly. "You really think so?"

"I _know _so," Roswell told her, leaning into her arms with a sigh. "There are so few people in this world like you and Gulcasa… the two of you can support each other now, reach each other in ways the rest of us can't perceive. I'm happy that you met someone so like you… I know you can feel it like I do, even though he tries to hide it… that caring aura, that wounded heart. He's not—like me. I—would want to stop existing for selfish reasons. But…"

"I know. And… don't put yourself down like that," Yggdra chided gently.

"So… stop wasting time here with me," Roswell said softly, sleepily. "Give him your best. You always have to do your best… for the one you love…"

"Thank you, Roswell," she murmured, leaning down to kiss his forehead. He didn't respond—apparently, her tea had worked even faster than she'd thought. He was already fast asleep.

---

"You idiot," Kylier berated as the healer pulled gauze and bandages out of a nearby drawer, glaring at Nessiah. "You know better than anyone that this gets bad whenever you're around an irritant for too long! If you realized you were in trouble, you should've gotten out of there and not minded us!"

"It doesn't matter that much," Nessiah protested, holding a bloody pad over his scar-sealed eye. "It's not even bleeding badly."

"Yeah, you might say that, but you need to be more careful now," Kylier snapped, pacing back and forth angrily. "Yggdra doesn't have the Gran Centurio anymore, remember? Now that it's sealed away, if anything happens to you, you won't revive right away anymore. It could take months, even years, and your time with us already isn't going to be all that long compared to how long you're going to live! Every _moment _is important. I know you as well as you know yourself, remember? I know how painful it is to be all alone in the world. So… don't take stupid risks with your health! I don't want you to have any regrets when this is all over."

"…Kylier…"

"Jeez, I always have to lecture you about this stuff." With a grimace, Kylier relented, and put an arm around Nessiah's shoulders. "Don't forget that you're important to me too, okay?"

Nessiah smiled and leaned into her side. "I know… you're my other half. As long as you're alive… I won't be able to exist without you."

"The feeling's mutual, so don't go getting yourself killed again. Once was enough."

Nessiah was silent for a moment, then he smirked. "Milanor's going to get jealous."

"Yeah, well, he's going to have to learn to live with it. It's not like we wanna jump each other or something like that. Which would be ten different kinds of wrong and creepy."

"If you two are done having a moment, change your gauze," the healer said strictly. Nessiah made a face, peeled himself away from Kylier, and took the proffered pad, dropping his soaked one and covering up his eye again. "I don't think I've ever seen such an inexpertly treated scar before. Shame on the doctor who looked after you when you got that."

"There was none," Kylier explained. "Even the person who was willing to look after him wasn't allowed to do anything to treat his injuries, so they healed on their own."

"It was fairly ugly. And it wasn't as though I was in any kind of mental state to try treatment myself," Nessiah added. "This has happened once or twice before… overexposure to irritants always makes these scars swell up and start bleeding. I once had it explained to me that when they originally closed over they were still highly septic, and so even now the tissue is vulnerable."

"All the more reason you should listen to milady here and take better care of yourself," the healer informed him. "Now hold still so I can bandage this up."

"You can go on back," Nessiah told Kylier. "I'm sure Flone and the others are waiting for you. And you can't just blow off your plans for Milanor for the sake of keeping me company. This is more important than sitting here and babysitting me, you know that."

Kylier sighed. "You're right, you're right. I'm sure you can handle yourself when someone's still right here to watch you. And when you're done, go find Yggdra or something; she can always keep you in line. Too bad Gulcasa went off wherever, 'cause he'd give you the lecture you deserve."

"I'm sure," Nessiah replied dryly. "Now go on, get back there. Learn to cook. It's a skill you'll need in life."

Kylier stuck out her tongue at him and went.

When she reached the kitchen, Flone was standing with the very guilty-looking Rosary, Elena, Nietzsche, and Emilia, a look of concern on her face. "Is Nessiah alright?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine, it wasn't serious. He was just being stupid and forgetting himself," Kylier said with an awkward shrug. "So… yeah. We really need your help in here."

"I would be happy to help," Flone replied, smiling. "Now… I have to tell you, chocolate and fudge can be temperamental and difficult to make for beginners, so I have an alternative, if you'd like."

_"Anything,"_ Kylier said pleadingly. "I think I've already proved I can't make chocolate—I just want to give Milanor _something _for Valentine's Day…"

"Don't put yourself down. Everyone's bad at cooking when they first start," Flone said diplomatically. "Anyway… how do chocolate-chip cookies sound?"

"If they're really easier, then I've got absolutely no problem with it," Kylier said emphatically. "So where do we start, then?"

"It looks like the rest of us won't be needed after all," Elena remarked.

"If any of you would like to stay, that would be fine," Flone said, shaking her head. "I can teach you all, and as long as you're under somebody's direction, you won't get under each other's feet."

"Nietzsche'll stay," the undine announced cheerfully. "Learning new things is fun!"

"I'd love to compare recipes with you, Flone-san," Elena said with a giggle. "If it's not too much trouble, I would love to stay here."

"Oh, what the hell," Rosary said, flinging up her hands. "I have nothing better to do, so I might as well."

"Ah…" Emilia blinked and grimaced slightly, her eyes widening. "I… I wanna stay, really, but I just remembered that there's something I've gotta take care of… I can't really explain, but there's gonna be trouble if I don't. I'm sorry…"

"It's okay," Flone told her, smiling. "I'd be happy to teach you some other time, Emilia-chan."

"Thanks. 'Bye everyone," Emila called, bobbing her head to them and retreating, her hair trailing after her in a lively bounce.

"She sure is cute," Kylier remarked after she'd gone. "Reminds me a little of myself at that age…"

"And she's surprisingly well-mannered most of the time. It may be a fact that her strength comes from her dragon's blood, but it has to be Gulcasa's influence that she's so mature for her age."

"He sure does dote on her a lot," Kylier agreed. "That's right—he brought her up by himself, didn't he? Still… if she hears us talking like this she'll get mad, so we should get to work."

"Alright. Now, who greased the last pan?" Flone asked.

"That was Nietzsche!"

"You did a good job with it. Would you mind doing the same for this one here?" Flone handed the fresh pan to the undine girl, who immediately started rubbing down its sides with a stick of butter. "Now, while she's working, I'd like the three of you to help gather the ingredients. I've got the list here—let's see, we need chocolate, flour, sugar, eggs, milk…"

---

Yggdra walked down the hall, trying to still her racing heart, clasping her hands on her skirts. _I'm finally doing it… going out to ask. I have to get this right… because I want… I want to see him smile…_

But she slowed her pace and came to a stop when she realized that the end of the hall was being blocked by the valkyrie twins, Aegina and Luciana—her half-sisters.

"H…hello. Is something the matter…?" Yggdra asked, giving them an awkward, nervous smile. There was a long history of bad blood between them, stemming from their resentment towards her for growing up happy under the care of the royal retinue while they, as King Ordene's illegitimate daughters, had been sentenced to banishment upon her birth. Gulcasa had told her the story in the period of recovery following the end of the war, when she'd wondered aloud in his presence why they hated her so. He'd also told her that his family had been the ones to take the two of them in, and that Aegina and Luciana had been accepted as sisters to him and Emilia.

"Yes, _dear _sister," Luciana said coldly, stepping forward. "Something most _certainly _is."

"We know what you're doing, and we want you to stop it," Aegina snapped, glaring ferociously at Yggdra out of her remaining eye. "Stay away from Gulcasa-nii!"

"You've already caused him so much suffering," Luciana accused, taking another step closer. "You and the rest of your family… your stupid father was the reason his parents died, and it's all your fault that Baldus and Eudy are gone! You and your army nearly killed him, time and time again, and you're the reason he felt he had to kill himself to save our country! After all your actions against our people, what gives you the right to come anywhere near Gulcasa-nii?!"

"You're bad for him," Aegina pressed. "You're the reason he's still so depressed, and if you stay around him, you'll just push him back over the brink again! If you're really still deluding yourself into thinking you care, then you'll get yourself out of his life! If you know anything about the sovereignty you took from us, then you know that when Gulcasa-nii accepted the Crown of Thorns, he bound himself to Bronquia, and you've already made him bleed so much for it! He's under enough pressure already, so keep your damn distance!"

"You may have helped him once, but don't get conceited, you little bitch," Luciana snarled, grabbing Yggdra by the shoulders and pushing her up against the wall. "Stay out of it!"

"I won't!" Yggdra cried, flushing and pushing Luciana back. "I'm sorry, but I won't stay out of it!!"

"Then maybe it's _your _turn to bleed," Aegina said wickedly, drawing her rapier.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Unhand Her Majesty!" came a familiar voice from further down the hall, then a rush of running footsteps.

Yggdra turned to see that it was one of her guards. "Lily!"

"Don't presume to order _us _around, vermin," Aegina said coldly, and caught Lily's strike with her rapier, sweeping out with a kick and sending the sword maiden collapsing to the ground.

"Lily, are you alright?" Yggdra broke away from Luciana to help her bodyguard to her feet.

"Don't worry about me, Your Majesty. If these two think they can just do whatever they want to you, they've got something else coming!" the blue-haired girl declared vindictively, struggling gamely into a ready position.

"Please stop this," Yggdra said frantically. "I won't have bloodshed in these halls! Remember the negotiation! In its current state, Bronquia can't take another war, and I won't see its people slaughtered trying to defend it! Don't do this!"

"Then all you need to do is give your oath as Queen to stay the hell away from our brother," Luciana ordered, drawing her own rapier to stand beside her sister. "Well?"

"Don't order Her Majesty around like that," Lily yelled furiously. "She and His Imperial Majesty have the right to fall in love with whoever they want, whether you like it or not!"

There was a moment of tense silence in which everyone glared at each other, but it was broken by yet more running footsteps.

"I can't _believe _you two! Are you guys crazy? What do you think you're doing?"

Aegina and Luciana both turned. "Emilia? What are _you _doing here?"

Gulcasa's little sister crossed her arms and glared up at the two of them. "I _was _going to learn how to make chocolate-chip cookies, but I get a feeling that you're doing something bad, and sure enough, here you are harassing Yggdra! What's up with that? Niisama's gonna get mad, you know!"

"Gulcasa-nii is too naïve to realize that getting involved with that girl is just plain bad for all of Bronquia," Luciana explained, jabbing a finger in Yggdra's direction. "We're just making it clear to her that she needs to back off and give him some damn breathing room."

_"Really." _Emilia gave them a _look. _"I think Niisama can decide for himself whether or not it's bad. Stop picking on Yggdra. It's not _her _fault she likes him."

"You make it sound like you're on _her _side," Aegina said, staring. "Emilia, what are you thinking?"

"That's what _I _wanna ask _you," _the Scarlet Princess retorted, glowering. "And I'm _not _on her side. I'm on _Niisama's _side. 'Cause it's _his _decision who he wants to spend time with, not yours."

"Emilia!"

"You _hate _this girl like us, don't you? Emilia!!"

"I used to," the little girl replied with a shrug. "But you know the other day, when I was working with the new griffon the trainers bought and she wouldn't stop rolling around in the dirt? Niisama and you guys were watching, and he started laughing about it? It sounded so strange to me, and I started wondering how long it had really been since Niisama had relaxed enough to laugh about something like that. And it wasn't just that we were at peace, because even before we went to war with Fantasinia, Niisama was always worrying, always serious. He never smiled like he meant it, not like he does now. I think Yggdra's the one who's been able to help him be himself again. And even if I don't like it, if she's good for him, then I don't have any choice but to let it happen. I promised myself that I was going to protect Niisama's smile, because I don't want him to be sad like he used to be ever again."

"But…"

"We…"

"You guys hafta think about what's best for Niisama right now," Emilia said sternly. "Remember, the doctors told us that when people start hurting themselves, it's almost always hard for them to stop, especially when they're having trouble in their lives. We all have to take care of him now so he can stop, you know?"

Aegina and Luciana were both silent.

"…Emilia…" Yggdra looked at the little girl wonderingly, touched by her passionate words.

"So go think about it for a while," Emilia concluded. "If you really wanna help Niisama, then you know what you have to do. C'mon, Yggdra, I think I oughtta talk to you for a sec."

Smiling, Yggdra followed Gulcasa's sister out of the hall, with Lily on her heels.

"Thank you for helping me protect Yggtan," the sword maiden said once they were away from the valkyrie twins. "I don't know what I would've done if it'd been just me."

"Don't worry about it," Emilia told her. "Like I said, it's for my brother, so you guys don't owe me anything."

"Still… thank you." Yggdra smiled at her. "It means a lot to me that you don't object to the way I feel about your brother…"

"You make him happy, so I don't have anything to complain about," Emilia said matter-of-factly. "You were coming down to ask about what to give him for Valentine's Day, right?"

"How did you know?"

"It was pretty obvious. You've been running around asking about everyone, and everyone includes him, so I had a feeling you'd ask sooner or later."

"So… what would you recommend, then…?"

"Well, my brother doesn't like chocolate all that much—he'll eat it, but there are things he likes better. But don't worry—just for you, I'm gonna tell you his secret weakness! Once you know that, you can't lose!"

Emilia went up to Yggdra, stood on tiptoe, and whispered something in her ear, grinning all the while.

"My…" Yggdra blinked, blushing slightly. "Is that true?"

"Yep! My brother's a total sucker for them, they're his favorite. If you can get him some it'll make him _really _happy, don't worry about it."

"Thank you so much—you've just made my job so much easier," Yggdra said gratefully.

"No biggie! It's just too bad I won't be able to see his face when you give it to him. It's gonna be totally priceless. Go on now, you've gotta get this done in time for Valentine's Day now!"

Yggdra giggled. "I will. Thank you!"

Emilia shrugged. "Like I said—I'm just happy that you've been able to make my brother smile again. Take good care of him… okay?"

"I will," Yggdra promised. "I always will."

:TBC:

Notes on the text

**Gulcasa's monologue:** There are things he'll tell Baldus that he won't tell anyone else (not even Nessiah!), but he isn't even able to say his deepest reservation about entering a relationship, the poor guy. It'll be clarified later.

**Yggdra's tea: **Even though tea has caffeine in it, putting hot milk in it makes it as good as tranquilizers. I speak from personal experience as an insomniac.

**Roswell and Yggdra:** Their scene here was extremely intimate. Part of Roswell's openness both in this chapter and in chapter 3 comes from being feeling like crap and wanting to be babied and being completely plastered respectively, but it's also because he trusts Yggdra absolutely, in a way that he finds it hard to trust others. It comes from the way she risked her life to save him in Verlaine and all the other times when he nearly got himself killed during the war.

**Yggdra:** She's been acting like she's everyone's mommy here because she feels so responsible for them. That and she just likes to take care of people. With Gulcasa, it's different—more of a mutual reliance than anything else. She feels that she can relate to him better than to others because of their positions as sovereigns, because they've both been invaders and defenders in the war, and for various other similarities between them.

**Kylier and Nessiah:** These two are pretty intimate, too! Because of the way Nessiah's attempt to control her backfired and linked their minds for a short time, they know and understand each other almost completely, which is also why Kylier states repeatedly that she can never stay angry at him. They still feel connected, and are able to read each other pretty well—Kylier astutely picked out the fact that Nessiah has already realized that he's still going to be alive long after the rest of the cast is dead, and isn't sure how well he'll be able to cope with it, for example. However, their relationship is still completely platonic. Considering the nature of their bond, if they did like each other "that way", it would be practically incestuous!

**Once someone starts hurting himself, it's hard to stop:** The reasons people turn to self-injury are always a little bit different, but many people who do those things do it partially because of the endorphin release cutting causes. A lot of those people become addicted to that endorphin release, and it's as difficult to put a stop to as drug dependence. This is what the doctor Emilia talks about is referring to. (Although technically, what Gulcasa was doing was attempting suicide rather than ordinary self-injury, and along with intent to kill himself came the resolution to cause deeper and more severe wounds than a cutter would.)

**Eudy:** Couldn't really figure out how to save her, either. (squirms) After all, she was standing right next to the Ankh when it exploded, and if it killed Al, who was further away, then there's not much I could do to get Eudy out of there…

**BF33:** I'm sure people are wondering, so I'll clarify: As Roswell and Rosary both survived in Verlaine, Yggdra confronted the leaders of the First and Second Royal Cavalries in Welheim. She mentions earlier on in the plot that they and their people died saving her, so they were my only option for guilt-inspiring opponents.


	6. Heartbeat, part 1

Stupid Cupid

See disclaimer in part 1

When Gulcasa and his bodyguards returned two days later, the clear skies had opened up with light and silver to shower the world with a warm, gentle rain. Noticing them coming up the road, Nessiah hurried out to the castle gate to meet them, standing under the arched ceiling of the wall as the three dragon knights rode across the bridge and out of the wet.

Gulcasa dismounted and gave his dragon a pat on the shoulder as it wriggled under its tack with a squeak of protest at having gotten soaked along the ride from Ishnad to Karona. "Would you two mind taking her back to the stables for me?"

As his two guards left with his dragon in tow, Nessiah walked up to him with a smile. "You must've gotten drenched. You always could've waited until the storm was over, you know."

"It's fine. It looks like it's going to rain all day and into tomorrow, too. Besides…" Gulcasa smiled, unhooked his dripping cape, and tucked it under his arm. "I _like _rain."

Nessiah laughed and held up an arm to shield his face as the Emperor shook excess water out of his hair like a dog, grinning all the while. "Well, _I _don't, so stop making it rain in here. How did things go over there?"

Gulcasa sighed and sobered, his smile becoming halfhearted. "Well… the people of Ish have been maintaining the war memorial beautifully. There's even talk of adding a list of casualties from both sides to the wall of the local shrine. They said that members of the Royal Army have been visiting off and on, as well. I think that's a good thing. The loss has to be felt and appreciated by all of us if we want to stop something like this from happening again in the future."

"If anyone can make that happen, you and Yggdra can," Nessiah said simply. "I believe in you. The two of you have the power to accomplish things that I used to think would never be possible."

"We'll see how it goes," Gulcasa agreed, pushing his wet bangs out of his face. "I got to talk to him alone, too. There's something I'm trying to sort out to myself, and I always used to go to him with my problems… I guess I'm still in that habit. Whether it helped or not, at least it made me feel better that I said it at all."

"…………" Nessiah considered the Emperor silently for a moment. "…Gulcasa, give me your hands."

"Huh?" Caught off-guard, Gulcasa held them forward, palms up. "A…alright…"

Nessiah took Gulcasa's right hand in both of his, then gently began to undo the linen bandages wrapped around his wrist. When at last he pulled them away, he gently touched the dark marks along the underside of Gulcasa's wrist—deep purple, thick lines in the shape of a jagged, uneven asterisk, the longest of which reached from the base of the palm to halfway down Gulcasa's forearm.

"They haven't even begun to fade…" Nessiah said softly, stroking his fingertips along the scars. "But I don't think there are any new ones."

"Nessiah, what…" Gulcasa shook his head. "You didn't really think…?"

"I'm making sure," was the fallen angel's quiet response. "Gulcasa… please understand. Yggdra and your sisters aren't the only ones who worry about you these days."

"…Nessiah…"

Quickly and competently, Nessiah rewrapped the bandages, covering up Gulcasa's scars. "There. Come on—let's get you inside. If you don't dry off, you could get sick, and that's the last thing we need right now, since Valentine's Day is tomorrow. Let's go."

"Fine, fine." As Nessiah turned, however, Gulcasa noticed the flash of white bandage beneath his faceplate, then frowned and turned his friend back towards him, tilting his chin up and running his finger along the linen. "What happened to your face?"

"Stood in kitchen smoke longer than was good for me," Nessiah replied with a grimace. "And though I know that you, too, will want to give your five cents on my stupidity, I've already gotten the riot act from Kylier and Yggdra, and we should be inside and warm while you lecture me."

Gulcasa shook his head. "You're impossible, you know that?" With a sigh, he slung his arm around Nessiah's thin shoulders as they started to walk. "Come on. Luciana and Aegina are going to get pissed that you're monopolizing my attention, and we don't need _that, _either."

"No, I'm sure we don't." Still, Nessiah smiled up at Gulcasa as they went inside. "Welcome back."

---

Rosary was _really _starting to get fed up.

Everyone else was getting irritated with her, telling her that she needed to stop avoiding the issue of apologizing to Roswell and get it over with. The thing was that while, sure, she _had _been trying to figure out some other way for the first day or so, now she really _did _want to do it, and bury the damn issue once and for all. Once it was over and done with, she could stop feeling guilty and frustrated and go on with life as usual.

The problem was, Roswell wasn't cooperating.

Whenever she went looking for him and managed to pick up on his trail, if she ever managed to get in the same room as him, he would always get that cagey look and either discreetly or indiscreetly exit stage right. The one time she _had _managed to sneak up on him and corner him, he'd gotten that awful defeated look again, said "Not now, Rosary", and brushed past her.

He was _avoiding _her.

And all she was trying to do was _apologize._

It was getting to be really hard not to point that out to him at the top of her lungs every time he slipped off, especially when she was getting the urge to append "you stupid prick" to the end of her frustrated message.

She'd managed to hold back. So far.

Sitting down and making a concerted effort to stay calm, Rosary tried to think the issue through logically.

They obviously had not parted on good terms. And usually, whenever Rosary made a point to look for Roswell, she wanted to pick a fight with him, as she'd done when the two of them had gotten each other into this whole mess. What if he thought that her intent was to attack him again, rather than say she was sorry and commence giving him a wide berth as usual? Maybe—the way Yggdra told it, the very last thing Roswell wanted was to get into another fight, seeing as he was in such a delicate emotional state or whatever. If he was already depressed, then he most certainly didn't need another blow to his self-esteem. Maybe he was acting out of self-preservation instinct (not that Roswell had ever displayed that before—when had he suddenly grown one?) or something like that.

Well, whatever the case, how the hell was Rosary supposed to apologize to him when he was running away from her like this? Sure, _she _might think that letting the issue die was a good idea, but Yggdra and the others would never ever let her live it down if she didn't say she was sorry.

As usual, Roswell was making her life hell.

Even if this time he didn't seem to mean to.

Rosary groaned and headslumped. Well, this meant that Valentine's Day was ruined for her. She wouldn't be able to gleefully watch as Elena tried to give chocolate to Zilva or as Milanor was forced to accept Kylier's homemade—and, surprisingly, edible—cookies, or as Yggdra and Gulcasa did their adorable yet hilarious "I don't know how the hell I ended up liking you, but I do, and now I'm not sure what to do about it" dance around each other.

Wait. Valentine's Day…

"It's not much, but it's something," Rosary said aloud. Then she groaned. "This really sucks."

---

Dawn had arisen, and Karona was a flurry of activity.

Girls everywhere were busy tracking down their beaux and male friends; the Royal and Imperial representatives found themselves caught up in the rush as well. Yggdra distributed candy to everyone she knew, handing them out with smiles and brief explanations, as Lily presented bittersweet chocolates to a very surprised member of Roswell's necromancer attendants and her younger sister Anemone shyly approached one of Gulcasa's bodyguards. Flone, having successfully given Russell his chocolates, spent the morning arm in arm with him in their own little corner of the castle, separated from the world by a wall of glowingly affianced bliss.

Some girls, however, were not nearly as happy as most of the multitudes.

Take a certain three members of the Royal Army, for example.

Kylier, Rosary, and Elena—sitting in the tower again—looked down at the happy bustle below, turned to one another, and sighed in unison.

"Well, I guess there's really no point in putting it off," Kylier said with another sigh. "I'm gonna go try to find Milanor. I'm sure he's outside, away from the noise and the crowds. It'll be easier now that the rain's let up."

"Good luck, Kylier-san," Elena said timidly.

"Knock him dead with your newly acquired culinary prowess," Rosary commented gloomily.

"And you two stop moping, get off your asses, and find Zilva and Roswell," Kylier retorted in an accusatory tone. "You guys are such downers. Regardless of your bad attitudes, _I _am going to go give cookies to Milanor and Nessiah."

"Why give cookies to _him?" _Rosary asked in the tone of dripping scorn she only reserved for Nessiah, and sometimes Roswell. Unlike her cousin, she still harbored a grudge against the fallen angel because of Verlaine.

"Because without Nessiah, I wouldn't have anything to give Milanor at all," Kylier pointed out. "Besides, he's my friend. Therefore he gets cookies too. I'm sure only Yggdra and me will have thought of giving him anything, and that's just plain wrong. So scoff all you want, but I'm going." And with that, she sauntered off.

Rosary grumbled. "I don't know _what _she sees in that guy."

"Milanor-san or Nessiah-san…?"

"Sometimes, both. But you know which I mean."

The two of them sat in silence.

"So are you gonna sally forth to confess your undying love, or what?" Rosary asked eventually.

Elena went bright red. "I-I-I d-don't know what I'm supposed to say…"

"If all else fails, throw your beloved sempai the chocolate and run like hell," Rosary retorted. "I don't know. I've never made a love confession, or really given anyone chocolate on Valentine's Day other than friends."

"I-I have to think of something first," Elena said, shaking her head. "I-I-I don't want to shame myself in front of Zilva-sama."

"If you say so."

"Um… what about you, Rosary-san?" Elena ventured. "Aren't you going to try to find Roswell-san?"

"I haven't got an ice cube's chance in hell in crowds like these," Rosary told her, gesturing to the scene below. "Either I have to wait until the ruckus dies down, or I'll have to interrogate a million people as to where my idiot cousin's holed himself up. Roswell's usually fine on his estates, and he never had a problem with the army, but he's not very good in situations where he has to be around that many people. Always used to say that crowds make him dizzy."

"But, Rosary-san, you speak like you know Roswell-san so well. Wouldn't you be able to tell where he might go if that's true?" Elena asked.

"Pfft. Maybe, but I haven't known him _that _well since we were kids. A twelve-year-old Roswell would be hiding in the library right now, but I'm sure a twenty-one-year-old Roswell realizes that that's the first place anyone looking for him would go. Besides, this would be _so _much easier if he wasn't always running away from me in the first place. The idiot just doesn't realize I'm trying to say I'm sorry."

"…Is that so…" Elena hung her head. "Rosary-san… it seems to me… as though Roswell-san is very afraid of being hurt."

"What are you talking about?" Rosary asked. "The guy's nearly gotten himself killed so many times, I'm starting to wonder if he's got a functional sense of pain."

"Not physically… I mean that he's very sensitive. Something I've learned throughout my experiences with everyone here is that people's hearts are very fragile things. They have the capacity for deep strength, but it takes so little to break them.

"The thought of losing Kylier-san, for Milanor-san… and for His Majesty, fear of failure… Nessiah-san, presented with kindness after so long… for everyone, tears came so easily… and now, Roswell-san knows that it won't take much to break him. He's… afraid, Rosary-san.

"But… all the same, you know Roswell-san so well, and you truly do want to help him… I'm sure that if you try hard enough, you'll be able to find him. He's out there, waiting for you to say the words that can heal him."

Rosary sighed. "You know what? You're right. And I really should go out there after him instead of sitting and whining to you all the time. I'm gonna go now." She stood up and gave Elena a crooked smile. "And… good luck with Zilva. I'm sure you'll figure out what to say."

With that, she left, running down the corridor with a determined look on her face.

Elena remained sitting where she was, hugging her knees with a wistful look in her eyes.

Figure out what to say… if only she could.

---

Contrary to popular belief, even though Zilva was the head of the Imperial Special Forces, she wasn't as frigid as a stone. What seemed to the rest of the world to be coldness was actually control—absolute control of her emotional response. Just because Zilva didn't _show _her feelings to the world and its kid brother didn't mean she didn't have them.

For instance, on the outside, Zilva treated Elena no differently from the scores of other students she'd trained to become assassins throughout the war.

On the _inside, _Elena happened to be the teacher's pet. _Very _few assassins could manage to function while still letting their emotions have free reign over their physical and mental reactions. Elena was the most emotional student Zilva had ever taught, and yet in spite of that—maybe because of it—she adhered the best to the assassin's unspoken code: There is no hatred in killing, only mercy. A swift, painless end is the mark of an assassin who has completed her mission flawlessly.

And in Zilva's personal opinion, "flawless" was a fairly good judgment of Elena.

There were still a few rough spots that Elena had to get over, of course. But she was young. She would learn.

However, these were lessons she would have to learn by _herself. _Zilva couldn't teach her _everything, _after all.

Besides… she was cute when she was floundering.

"Z-Z-Z-Z-Zilva-s-sama…" Elena squeaked, radiating panic and embarrassment, flush-faced and shaking.

"Yes?" Absolute control came in handy sometimes. The corner of Zilva's mouth wanted to start twitching very badly, but she wasn't going to let it.

"N-n-nothing! I'm sorry!" Her entire face bright pink, Elena turned tail and fled.

Zilva watched her go, her pale golden eyes registering little more than mild disappointment. Oh, well. Zilva was good at being patient. Elena would figure it out sooner or later.

…She hoped.

---

It was cliché. Milanor _knew _it was cliché. But still, it was exactly what a day like today called for.

The rain had stopped really late last night, and now the ground outside was dry and warm. The skies had cleared up beautifully, and the sun had been baking the earth for the past several hours.

The castle was all filled with bustle and chatter, for reasons Milanor couldn't possibly guess—but even though the noise made him slightly uncomfortable, he was grateful for it, because it had given him an excuse to come outside.

The Silver Wolf was lying on his back along the grassy slope that led down to Karona's moat, a long grass stalk in his mouth, lazy and content. After all the chaos that had come with the war and the first few months afterwards, when Yggdra had gotten all of Fantasinia alternately up in arms and working like the proverbial bees over her public renunciations of military force and her motions for reconstruction for every country that had suffered damage over the course of the war, it was so good to just lie around without a care in the world.

Maybe he'd been something like a commander in the disbanded Royal Army, but before all that, Milanor had been a thief, and he'd never really enjoyed responsibility.

"Milanor!"

The Silver Wolf sat up, disoriented. "Kylier?"

She was running towards him with a happy look on her face and a basket under her arm. As he watched, Milanor acutely felt his heart do a quick somersault and land in his stomach, sending quivers through his belly. It was something he wasn't exactly used to, but it was becoming a common occurrence whenever Kylier was around.

_Oh, wow, _went the part of his brain that disengaged and got goofy whenever she entered the immediate area. _She's really done it this time._

It had been Milanor's first big post-war realization: Somewhere over those months, he'd become hopelessly stuck on Kylier. And for some weird reason, she seemed to feel the same about him.

"I figured you'd be out here," Kylier said as she sprawled down in the grass next to him. "You big silly, I've been looking for you all morning!"

"Huh? Why?" Milanor blinked at her, confused.

Kylier rolled her tawny orange eyes at him, groaning. "Just like a man. It's Valentine's Day today, _duh."_

"It is?" Milanor faced forward again, still slightly confused. "Oh."

"Yeah. You know, the way you've been going about life as usual, you've totally missed out on all the drama around here. Open your eyes to the other side of life and get your head out of the masculine zone. You've got way more brain than to just sit around and grunt and point like some guys do." Kylier opened her basket. "Anyway, here you go. Sorry it's not chocolate, but…"

"Ooooh, cookies!" His eyes lighting up, Milanor took them from her and immediately started on them. "And they're really good, too!"

"You think so?" Kylier asked, blushing and giving him a shy smile. "Chocolate was too hard, and even making these was a pain, but… it's worth it if you like them."

"Wait, are you saying _you _made these?" Milanor pointed at the half-eaten cookie in his hand, astonished. "That's unbelievable! These are awesome!"

"Uh-huh… Flone taught me," Kylier replied, blushing even worse.

"Well, that explains it. You've always sucked at cooking."

"Hey!" Kylier punched him in the shoulder, pouting. "You don't have to be so blunt about it, jerk!"

"Owwww…" Milanor rubbed his offended shoulder, sulking. "I was trying to give you a _compliment."_

"Dumbass."

"Banshee."

Kylier giggled; Milanor laughed. The two of them linked arms and leaned back into the grass as Milanor finished his cookie.

---

"Oh, dear… what's wrong?"

Elena looked up to see that she had been joined by Russell and Flone, who were both looking down at her worriedly where she sat on a bench in the castle garden, the beautifully wrapped box she'd put her chocolate in sitting next to her.

"I've tried and tried, I just… I just couldn't do it," Elena told them, desperately ashamed. "I couldn't… say anything to Zilva-sama, and I couldn't give this to her."

"Don't worry about it," Flone soothed. "Everyone has trouble giving a Valentine's Day gift the first time they do it. It's normal to be a little shy about it… especially normal for someone like you, I'd say, since you tend to worry a lot, Elena-chan."

"It's not as if the _giving _part is difficult at all… it's just… I don't know what I should _say _to her…"

"You don't really need to say that much," Russell told her. "I think Valentine's chocolate is a confession in and of itself, wouldn't you say so, Flone?"

"Definitely," Flone replied, looking up into his eyes and smiling.

"B-but, without explaining…"

"I doubt you really need to explain, either," Russell said, shaking his head. "Gulcasa didn't appoint Zilva as the head of his Special Forces for nothing—she's very perceptive, and she knows you well. I'm sure she's noticed how you feel." He smiled down at Elena, giving her a quizzical look and a shrug. "That said, if Zilva already understands, even a simple 'here you go' will work."

"But I…"

"Elena-chan, the worst thing you can do in this situation is give up," Flone reminded her, patting her on the shoulder. "As long as you can get your gift to Zilva, that's a victory. As long as there's tangible proof of your feelings for her, that's another step forward to starting that kind of relationship. So just keep trying, okay? It'll all work out as long as you hang in there."

"Okay…" Biting her lip, Elena picked up the box of chocolates and bowed to the young couple. "Thank you, Russell-san, Flone-san. I don't know if I can ever repay your kindness, but I'll never forget it, all the same. I… won't lose to my doubt." Smiling and bowing again, she hurried off.

Flone leaned into Russell's shoulder and smiled. "So much like we were at that age, don't you think, dear?"

Russell slipped an arm around her waist and smiled back. "…They sure are. That's why I'm sure everything will turn out just fine for them."

"These days, it's as though every one of us is blessed," Flone mused. "You and I… we're finally going to have the wedding we dreamed of, barely three months from now. Kylier has finally recovered from the battles of Flarewerk and Ancardia, and she and Milanor are set to do great works for the people of Norn Valley and Lost Aries. Zilva and Elena will do just fine, I'm sure, considering the way they adore each other. As long as Rosary can learn to swallow her pride, Roswell can surely learn to trust her—and himself—again. Everyone is settling into peaceful lives. And…"

"I know what you mean," Russell agreed. "The Emperor and the Queen… it's almost like a fairy tale."

"Even when I was a prisoner in our own dungeons, Gulcasa did his best to treat me kindly, but even through all the times I saw him… he never had that cute look on his face that he does when he's around Yggdra," Flone remarked. She paused, then covered a giggle. "He looks just like you did, the first time I ever gave you chocolate on Valentine's Day."

Russell arched an eyebrow and looked down at her, amused. "Oh, really?"

"Yes—half wholehearted adoration, half utter panic, and nary a clue as to what to say or do next. It's the kind of look you only see on a boy who's in love for the first time."

"I would pay to see Gulcasa looking like that," Russell said, nodding. "And I did not ever walk around with that kind of expression, even back then."

"Yes, you did," Flone told him with a laugh, poking him playfully in the chest. "You were the most adorable thing, it just made my heart melt."

"I did _not."_

"Did too."

"No way."

"You can deny it all you like, but I know you better," Flone said, giggling again. "But don't worry—I _always _think you're cute. My dashing, beautiful Astral Fencer."

Russell shook his head, but smiled indulgently and kissed her.

It was like a fairy tale.

:TBC:

Notes on the text

**Gulcasa's covered scars:** The fact that Gulcasa was actively attempting suicide on a regular basis was not made public because it might have caused panic throughout the still-unstable Bronquia considering their state after the end of the war. He keeps them covered by linen bandages at all times whenever he might be around civilians to conceal the evidence of his depression, and plans to continue doing so until the scars fade to the point where they will no longer be noticeable. The only ones aware of these incidents are the Royal and Imperial armies, as well as the doctors and healers of Flarewerk, who were treating Gulcasa and the other wounded at that time. His scars cover the undersides of both his forearms, as well as the sides of his throat, and each one represents a separate suicide attempt.

**Teacher's pet Elena:** True to the game. Although Elena seems blissfully unaware of this fact and her fellow Imperial assassins don't seem jealous, she's most definitely Zilva's favorite student, which Zilva outright says at one point.

**Milanor:** Yeah, that's why he hasn't been around. Stupid typical boy that he is, he forgot Valentine's Day was even coming. Silly Milanor. Oh well, Kylier doesn't care as long as he doesn't forget White's Day.

**Flone:** Locking her up was Gulcasa's last resort to get Russell to stay in his army rather than rejoining the Fantasinians. Although Luciana and Aegina remained suspicious and irritable about the whole thing (as they usually do about most things…), Gulcasa and most of his officers tried to treat her with some civility and let Russell visit her as much as he wanted as long as it didn't interfere with his performance in battle. If asked why he was still trying to be nice about it, Gulcasa would likely reply, "Because I'm not comfortable with doing this. Locking girls up is what the bad guys do…" Thankfully, Flone doesn't seem to hold it against him!

"**Niisama" versus "my brother":** I'm sure people have noticed that Emilia shifts between calling Gulcasa "Niisama" and saying "my brother" while talking about him, and that's actually not due to your humble author being a spaz. In Japanese, you use separate sets of familial pronouns depending on who you're talking to! While speaking to your brother or to another member of your family, you would call your brother "Oniisan" (with variation on the "-san" depending on your actual relationship), but while talking to someone who's not related to you, you'd call him "aniki", which usually has no suffix on it and means "my brother". It's the difference between saying "Dad" versus "my father" in English, but there are more rules to it in Japanese. Because "Niisama" involves a suffix and is relationship-indicative, I leave it the way it is, but change "aniki" to "my brother" for the benefit of the English-speaking audience. Hence, Emilia calls Gulcasa "Niisama" to his face and to Luciana and Aegina, her adopted sisters, while she says "my brother" around everyone else. (Hope that wasn't too confusing…)

**Suffixes:** While we're on the subject, yes, I am a suffix aficionado and one of those people who likes her manga and anime to leave them in, but the reason that I have characters use suffixes while speaking to one another in fanfiction goes deeper than that. Japanese is a very polite language (much more so than English!) and requires a great deal of formality and respect between people, and so the myriad suffixes characters use are partly a way to indicate their relationships. Plus, there's really no English equivalent for suffixes, which can make trying to translate their connotation a pain in the ass. You lose the poignancy of scenes where characters suddenly change their suffixes in the middle of a story, showing how their relationship is progressing—for example, take the scene in chapter 7 of YU where Milanor requests that Elena not use suffixes with him because it makes him uncomfortable. In the English version, Elena goes from calling him "Master Milanor" to "Sir Milanor", which loses some of the cute, comedic feeling of the original Japanese, where the floundering and embarrassed Elena simply drops her suffix for Milanor by one level of respect. In an attempt to preserve this extra connotation with relationships, your humble author has left suffixes in, although most of the cast has dropped suffixes altogether out of the camaraderie that remains from the war.


	7. Heartbeat, part 2

Stupid Cupid

See disclaimer in part 1

Roswell heard footsteps on the wood floors and knew with a sinking meld of knee-jerk fear and deep disappointment that he'd been caught. Quickly, he stood, jammed the pile of books he'd had out to read back into the corner, and wove his way around the shelves towards the second exit.

Okay, maybe the library had been a really bad place to go after all. Still, Roswell had been exhausted all morning by the clamor of couples meeting for their annual chocolate exchange, and out of that hunted feeling and pure desperation, he'd decided that his usual haunt would just seem too obvious for anyone looking for him, and that he'd therefore be safe here. Obviously he'd been wrong about that. He'd have to think up a better strategy the next time he was in this situation, but for now he'd just have to put all his energy into escaping. Even through Yggdra's daily reassurance and the promises of protection from his attendants, Roswell's heart still felt too raw, too vulnerable for normal human contact.

"Roswell, _wait!"_

It was Rosary's voice. The need for escape redoubled in Roswell's sinking heart. She was the absolute _last _person he wanted to be around right now.

_"Roswell!"_

Before he could duck out the door and actively flee, Rosary's hand clamped around his wrist, holding him back. He tried to pull away, but her grip only tightened.

"Will you stop running?" Rosary demanded, worry seeping through the annoyance in her tone. "I'm not here to yell at you!"

"…………" Roswell didn't turn to face her. He couldn't. "Please… just let go…"

"No, I won't!" she said stubbornly, squeezing his wrist. "You're just gonna run off if I do, and I've got something to say to you first!"

"…Then… just go ahead and say it. I'm… I don't want to be around anyone today."

He heard Rosary sigh, exasperated but something else as well. "You are just unbelievable…" Silence. She loosened her grip on him, slid her hand down to his, and held it tightly, interlacing her fingers with his. "You're just… making us all worry about you when you get like this. You don't have to be so afraid of people… everybody isn't as out to get you as you seem to think."

"…………" Roswell knew he could probably pull away from her now, but didn't. Holding Rosary's hand was a strangely comforting thing. Memories of their childhood flickered in the back of his mind, and he realized that they hadn't actually held hands like this for years.

"Anyway, I…" She sighed, paused, and then spoke again. "Here."

Roswell turned, confused, to see that she was holding out a small black box tied with plain gray ribbon, looking evasively to the side. "…What's this…?"

"Just take it," Rosary told him, thrusting it out insistently and making whatever was inside it rattle. "And… go back up to your room and open it when you're alone. Nobody'll bug you up there, and even if anyone asks, I won't tell them where you are or that I saw you here." She bit her lip and squeezed his hand, her cheeks starting to flush soft red. "And… I was really relieved… that we didn't lose you at Heaven's Gate."

Without another word, Rosary let go of his hand, then turned and walked away, ruffled pride and embarrassment wrestling in each sharp clack of her heels on the wood.

Positively mystified, Roswell looked at the box, shrugged, and slipped through the castle halls like a wraith back to his and his attendants' quarters, retreating into his room and locking the door behind him.

Pulling up his chair, the young necromancer sat down at his desk and carefully undid the silky ribbon, pausing for a moment to run his fingers over the fabric wonderingly. Typical—even with something as simple as this, Rosary's taste was impeccable. Whatever else this strange gift entailed, Roswell would be keeping the ribbon—it was difficult to come by hair ties that wouldn't damage his long, delicate hair if he wanted to put it back, as he recalled Rosary herself pointing out to him repeatedly in the past (usually after catching him using the customary leather).

Lifting the lid, Roswell was greeted with the warm scent of chocolate, and stared, impressed, at a block of dark chocolate that had been beautifully carved into the shape of a rose. Whoever had fashioned it that way had been an amazing artist—it looked incredibly lifelike, and almost too good to eat.

Almost.

After picking the chocolate rose up and examining it from different angles, Roswell caught sight of a folded slip of paper that had lain beneath it, set it down, and carefully extracted the note.

When he unfolded it, he was immediately struck by its message, feeling more confounded than ever: "Happy Valentine's Day."

_Wait… what? _Roswell blinked down at Rosary's loopy handwriting. _What what **what?**_

Shaking his head, Roswell realized that there was more writing on the back, and flipped the paper over. There were only two words here, but just those two words made his chest feel constricted, suddenly too tight for air: "I'm sorry."

Roswell reread her message until the paper blurred. That strange tightness wasn't going away—it was getting even stronger, and he felt as if he could cry. Behind the swirl of touched amazement in his mind rose one clear and potent memory.

When he'd been struck down by that angel at Heaven's Gate, the one who'd caught and held him had been Yggdra—but when she'd left him to their army's care in her desperate effort to save Gulcasa and Nessiah, even though Roswell's senses had been dimming as he felt, actually _felt _his life slipping away, the one who'd held him close, crying and pleading for him to hold on just a little longer… had been Rosary.

She'd been there for him, in what was definitely in the running for his darkest hour.

Roswell closed his eyes and smiled.

"Rosary… thank you…"

---

"Zilva? Yeah, I saw her just a few minutes ago. I think she went inside." 

"Thank you very much," Elena said with a bow, then ducked back through the crowds towards Karona proper. She was not, _was not _going to let herself—and Zilva—down this time.

It was like Russell and Flone had told her: As long as she kept trying, she was going to succeed.

Elena had barely passed under the vaulting ceilings of the castle's interior when she caught sight of her beloved teacher at last.

It was like flipping a switch—instantly, Elena felt her face growing red, and her heart started hammering so loudly in her chest that she could barely hear. Her hands were shaking, and she felt so tongue-tied that she had to struggle just to take a breath in preparation to call out. She'd sat on her feelings for so long that she just couldn't help it any more—they were starting to bubble out of every crack in her imperfect façade. Trying to calm herself down would be like trying to plug holes in a dam by covering them with her hands—struggle she might with her heartbeat, for instance, but then she would break out in a cold sweat, or start to stutter.

Even when not geared for combat, Zilva dressed beautifully, practically, and impeccably in a silver tunic of some satiny material, and beneath that, black shirt and hose that clung to and perfectly accented her curves. She'd swapped her usual red leather headband for a black cloth one, which made the color of her eyes stand out a lot better in Elena's opinion. And if Elena didn't really, _really _focus, her functional mind would shut off, and all she'd be able to do was stare. And stare… and stare… and _stare. _But she was going to focus, because if she didn't Zilva would walk off before she realized where her teacher had gone.

Elena made herself swallow and take a few steps forward. "Z-Zilva-sama…!"

Zilva stopped and turned halfway, looking over her shoulder impassively. Elena tried not to swoon. Oh _gods, _she was so… so…

_Don't need to do this now! _the sane, rational part of Elena's mind yelled at her. _You can drool over her LATER! Right now you have to give her THE BOX!_

Oh, right. Yeah. The box.

"Ah… um, um, Zilva-sama…" Elena took a few steps forward, so that she and her teacher were standing a little less than arm's length apart.

"…Yes?"

Elena looked down at the toes of her shoes as Zilva stood patiently and waited, then quickly brought the heart-shaped box adorned with a fancy ruffled ribbon out in front of her, listening to the chocolates inside rattle slightly as her hands trembled. "U-um… th… this present…"

She stood in silence as Zilva took the box from her hands, examined it briefly, then turned back to her—and _smiled._

Anyone other than Elena probably would've gaped—Zilva rarely _ever _smiled, especially in affection or gratitude. Elena, being Elena, was in seventh heaven.

And _then _Zilva stepped in a little closer, and ran one finger down Elena's cheek.

"…Thank you."

With that, she turned and walked away, carrying Elena's chocolate with her.

Elena could've fainted dead away from sheer joy.

---

"All right, everyone… how are the others doing?" Yggdra asked, looking between the three of her guards who weren't with their chosen beaux.

"Kyli and Milatchi are still outside enjoying each other's company," Camellia reported with a smile. "Looks like everything went over well down there."

"As Enachan is floating around the castle's east wing with little hearts in her eyes and Zilva's in the Imperial common room enjoying a box of chocolates, I'd say that's two for two," Magnolia said dryly, shaking her head and grinning.

"When I went to talk to Rosary, I got yelled at, but…" Iris shrugged one shoulder, looking mischievous. "News comes down through Roswell's attendants by way of Lily-neechan that Roswell is in a much better mood than before. Oh, and Russell and Flone are off enjoying themselves, as if anyone expected anything different from them."

"That's good. Thank you all so much," Yggdra said, smiling at all of them. "Now I don't have to worry. I've given out everyone else's chocolates, so now…" To the amusement of the three bodyguards, she started to blush. "Now…"

"Don't worry about it, we've got you covered," Iris told her, grinning. "In case you're worrying, Aegina and Luciana are off in their quarters. We've got Emilia-chan's word on it, _and _she says that if it looks like they're going to leave, she'll distract them for you."

"Also, Anemone told us that he's out in the paddocks with his dragon, and that nobody else is there," Camellia said, reaching out to pat her queen on the shoulder.

"We'll be loitering around the stables at a safe distance, just in case anyone tries anything funny," Magnolia promised. "Nothing short of divine judgment is going to mess up your golden opportunity."

"Oh… oh," Yggdra said, covering her face out of embarrassment. "Thank you. I don't know what I would do without you. You don't have to waste your time making sure of these things for me, but…"

"Don't sweat it," Magnolia advised. "We're here for you, Yggtan. Besides, it's common consensus that anyone who would want to get in the way of you and Gulcasa has got to be insane, jealous, or heartless. We want you two to be happy more than anything."

"So go on out there and ambush him with your secret weapon," Camellia chimed in. "We'll take care of the rest, don't you worry."

"Thank you," Yggdra said again, shaking her head helplessly, then ducked through the castle corridors towards the stable. Passing the horses and griffons with smiles and the occasional pat, she emerged into the wide fenced paddocks outside.

She spotted Gulcasa immediately.

As her guards had told her, he was alone with his dragon on the far side of the paddock, walking with it along the far side of the fence, talking to it animatedly. Dressed for work rather than for battle or his people's benefit, he was wearing a pair of grass-stained pants which, despite the belt worn with it, rode low on his hips, a plain black, sleeveless shirt, and beat-up leather work boots. As he was out in the open, thick bands of linen pinned closed with silver covered his wrists and forearms, and—though it was harder to see, as his long red hair got in the way—his throat. The only visible evidence that he really was the Emperor who had led all of Bronquia into war against the country that had so oppressed them was the black steel circlet he wore, and the opalescent red gem set into the dragon head at the center of its band: The Crown of Thorns, the emblem of the Imperial throne.

When Yggdra was a third of the paddock away, Gulcasa sensed her approach and turned, his eyes brightening as he waved her over. Smiling, she kilted up her skirts and ran the rest of the way.

"Everyone told me you were out here," she said a little breathlessly as she reached him. "Have you been riding…?"

"Yeah—most of my knights who are still here do at least once a day. Otherwise these guys get restless." He turned towards his dragon at that last remark, laughing as it butted its scaled red muzzle against his shoulder in a playful bid for attention. Yggdra noticed that although the dragon was wearing a halter, the rest of its usual tack was absent. If Gulcasa had been riding his dragon, he'd done so bareback. Yggdra was impressed.

"I think it's amazing how well you handle them," she said aloud, watching as Gulcasa rubbed his dragon's shoulder affectionately. "I've always heard that riding even domesticated dragons is difficult…"

"That's really just superstition, as far as I can tell," Gulcasa replied with a shrug. "My knights have never had any trouble with it, as far as I know. And as for me… I've always been able to work with dragons, even wild ones. It's like…" He hesitated for a moment, then nodded, looking at her more seriously. "It's like you and the Gran Centurio. Even though you'd never had weapons training before, you were able to fight with that sword just a few days after picking it up for the first time. It's something that just runs in the blood. I was told that every emperor of Brongaa's bloodline could tame dragons and wield scythes instinctively."

"I see…"

"Of course, actually taming a dragon can be risky at first—you have to watch out or you'll end up getting scratched or bitten—but it's not that different from breaking horses. In my opinion, breeding griffons is a lot harder. Emilia has a gift with them, but I'm hopeless at it." Gulcasa shook his head at himself, smiling wryly. "She'll probably outdo me when she starts working with dragons, too, so I suppose that's part of the reason I'm putting it off."

"She hasn't? When will she?"

"As soon as she decides she wants to. She'll pester me about it until I let her try." Gulcasa made a face. "That was how she started working griffons in the first place. I didn't start taming dragons until I was fifteen, because that was when I got work with the old Imperial Knights, but I think I could've done it sooner."

Yggdra nodded, and watched with a smile as the dragon nosed his shoulder until he gave in, laughing, and turned to scratch its throat, making it arch its neck and purr like a spoiled kitten.

_It's almost as if the war never happened in the first place… almost as if I've known him all my life. I could just stand here and talk to him forever, and I'd be happy. I feel like… every prayer I ever said as a little girl, that one day I would have my own "happily ever after" has been answered. I know that with him… I can have everything I ever dreamed of._

_I look at him now and… sometimes I forget the blood that's been spilled between us. I'm lucky… I'm sure that Father and Mother would be happy that there's peace now, and not be angry that I feel like this… about the person who's the reason they died._

Yggdra decided inwardly that it was time to derail that particular train of thought.

"Is it alright if I…?" she started, stepping towards the dragon with one hand partially raised.

"What? Oh—sure, go ahead," Gulcasa told her, looking surprised. As she reached out tentatively to pat its red-gold neck, he smiled and suggested, "Try scratching her eye ridges. She really likes that."

Yggdra did so, and was rewarded with the dragon's steady purr as it nuzzled into her hand. "The Imperial Knights ride female dragons?"

Gulcasa nodded. "You wouldn't think so, but with land drakes like these, the females are larger, stronger, and tend to be more cooperative. We can't afford to have any males gelded, since the population has been getting smaller, so we take out the ladies who aren't clutching and use them as our battle mounts." He paused, then smiled. "She likes you."

Yggdra giggled and kept petting the dragon. "She's so warm, and much cuter than I thought."

Gulcasa watched her for a while. "If you like, I could teach you to ride sometime."

"Really?" Yggdra turned to him, wide-eyed. "That would be wonderful. Thank you!"

There was a moment's hesitation between them, a mutual desire for touch eclipsed by shyness.

"So…" Running a hand through his hair awkwardly, Gulcasa looked down at Yggdra. "As I'm sure you had a better reason to come looking for me than to hear me go on about dragons, was there something you needed?"

Yggdra instantly went pink.

"W…well…" She slipped her hand into the pocket of her dress and closed it around the box she'd hidden there. "This is…" Removing it, she held it out to him.

Gulcasa went bright red.

"You mean… for me…?"

Yggdra nodded, too embarrassed to speak.

Gulcasa took the box silently, apparently as embarrassed as she was.

"Uh… can I open…?"

"Sure, go ahead," Yggdra replied with a nod.

She watched as Gulcasa carefully undid the ribbon that held the box closed, then lifted the lid. When he saw the contents, his eyes widened, and he stood staring in amazement at her gift.

Finally finding his voice, Gulcasa pointed to the sweetberries Yggdra had given him. "How did you know?"

"Emilia told me," Yggdra confessed. "I asked other people, but she was the only one who knew what your favorite food is. She's helped me out a lot lately."

"I guess we _both _owe her one, then," Gulcasa said, still looking surprised. "She and the twins must be the only ones who know about that, besides you. Thank you."

Yggdra smiled. "Don't worry—I was happy to. It's ironic, though… sweetberries are _my _favorite, too."

"Really?" A slow smile crossed Gulcasa's face. "Then, I suppose the best way to show my eternal gratitude would be to share. Here."

He took one sweetberry out of the box, placing it in her hand.

She accepted it with a smile of thanks, which grew to a smile of rapture as she ate it.

"Come on," he said, and took her hand. "We'd better get back inside. People are going to wonder where we are if we're out for too long."

"You're right," Yggdra agreed, slipping her fingers through his. "…Happy Valentine's Day."

:TBC:

**Sweetberries: **The YU/Riviera version of strawberries. You can find one somewhere during chapter 3, I think. Not a hundred percent sure where, but you can find it. It actually mentions in the description that they're Yggdra's favorite food.

**Yggdra's bodyguards:** The triplets (Camellia, Magnolia, and Lily) are the older ones, and the twins (Anemone and Iris) are the younger ones. Yes, an anemone is actually a flower. If you don't know that, you obviously have not been watching Eureka Seven, and all I have to say to _that _is SHAME ON YOU.

**Enachan, Milatchi, etc.:** More of Yggdra's bodyguards' silly nicknames for the Royal Army's members. Strangely, Roswell and Rosary didn't get tagged with nicknames like almost everyone else.

**No weapons training:** Early in the game, when Milanor and Yggdra have just joined up, Milanor asks her if she knows what she's doing and if she can actually use the Gran Centurio, and Yggdra admits that she's a very inexperienced fighter.

**Female dragons:** What Gulcasa is saying holds true for all different kinds of animals, horses in particular. The knights of the European Middle Ages sometimes ran into trouble because they were Manly Men who rode stallions… which were prone to getting into all kinds of horsie fights over dominance and chasing after every stray mare in sight. Riding a gelding (neutered male) or a mare is a lot more practical, as they're not as aggressive and tend to behave better. Whatever else can be said about them, Gulcasa and the Imperial Knights have established their good use of common sense.

**It's not over?:** No, we still have White's Day to deal with! Now it's the _guys' _turn to sweat! (laughs evilly)


	8. Maybe

Stupid Cupid

See disclaimer in part 1

Yggdra sighed with relief, stretching out her arms, as she walked out of what had become the conference chamber for the peace negotiations. Today had been a particularly touchy subject—further reparations to be made to Bronquia for the damages the Royal Army had inflicted during their invasion. Embellia and Lombardia had both been suspicious and unwilling, but after Yggdra had succeeded in calling silence, Gulcasa had gotten up and addressed the entire group of representatives in a passionate and poignant speech.

Bronquia had gone to war with Fantasinia, he'd said, for three main reasons: Driving out the Fantasinian occupation of border castles and towns such as Ishnad and extending Bronquia's territory, his own personal vengeance against the Royal family responsible for the deaths of his parents and the degradation of his noble clan, and repeated crop failures that would have become widespread famine if Gulcasa and the Imperial Army hadn't supplied Bronquian villages with looted Fantasinian crops. The spoils of war were no longer an option, but Gulcasa attested that he was prepared to do anything to save his people, even if it came down to emptying the Imperial treasury and completely beggaring Bronquia for as long as it took. When he'd just taken the throne, he'd been too naïve and too proud to beg Fantasinia and its allies for help, but he said that he knew better now.

"Whether he calls himself an Emperor or a King, a monarch has a responsibility to his people," Gulcasa had proclaimed seriously. "I made mistakes in the past, and I wronged you all deeply. But times are changing, and now I have no choice but to beg you, my fellows, for your aid. For better or for worse, Bronquia is at your mercy."

At that point, Yggdra had joined him, reminding the assembly that although several of them had been allied to Fantasinia, her own country and her father had done them ill as well through the complacent, supremacist attitude that they had cultivated under the aegis of the Gran Centurio. "All of us, not just Gulcasa and the Imperial Army, have sins for which we must atone," she had told them. "To avoid further bloodshed, each of us has to change the way we approach matters of state, the way we perceive each other. The lives of the people of Bronquia are just as precious as those of our own… please, show them the respect and kindness you would to those you have sworn to protect."

Gulcasa's testimony had won the sympathy of the Lost Aries representatives, and either the impact of Yggdra's admission of guilt or the picture she'd made, standing hand in hand with the Emperor she'd once sworn to kill and begging for their aid on his behalf, had gotten the agreement of Lombardia and Embellia. After that, they'd debated back and forth about what concessions were to be made, and the result had been far more than both Yggdra and Gulcasa had dreamed was possible.

All in all, it had been an extremely successful day.

"Hey, Yggdra, wait up!"

She turned around, a radiant smile warming her face, to see that Gulcasa was running up to join her. "You were brilliant in there," she told him as he caught up and fell in stride with her. "You completely won them over, and I'm so happy for you. That went so much better than I ever hoped it could."

"Ah… no, it was because of you," Gulcasa said, blushing slightly and shaking his head. "I never thought Embellia would want to help us, since they're still bitter that we're sheltering Nessiah—and I was sure Lombardia was a lost cause. I mean… Luciana may have been taking liberties with her orders, but it still comes down to the fact that I was indirectly responsible for the death of one of their most respected Popes in the history of the diocese. But you got them to listen to you… I owe you so much, I have no idea how to begin to thank you!"

"Oh, no, you don't need to," Yggdra protested hastily, her face flaming. "We of Fantasinia have got to start making up for the way we've treated your people for so long."

"Even so—you're the first Fantasinian monarch who would ever have dreamed of taking our side, and I have to do _something _to show you how much that means," Gulcasa insisted, giving Yggdra's shoulder a gentle shove. Mischief flared in his golden eyes as he smiled down at her. "So, since I don't have any better ideas… how about that riding lesson I promised you last month?"

"I would _love _that!" Yggdra exclaimed, glowing with joy. "Thank you!"

"You don't have to thank me," he told her softly. "I'm the one who's always going to be grateful to you…"

But before he could finish his sentence, someone nearby cleared their throat very loudly, making both the Emperor and the Queen jump.

"A-Aegina…!" Gulcasa stared at the irate valkyrie, shaken, one hand clamped over his chest. "You about gave me a heart attack—give me some warning next time instead of sneaking up on me!"

"Trust me, Gulcasa-nii, I could have stripped naked and danced like a lightskirt all through the hall without you noticing I was even here," Aegina told him, a vein standing out in her jaw. "You only had eyes for _her. _As for the rest of the world, you might as well have been as blind as Nessiah."

Gulcasa sighed and gave her an exasperated look. "Don't talk about Nessiah like that. You should be ashamed of yourself for using someone's disability as an insult—so don't do that anymore, because if he hears you and gets upset, I'll have to think up some kind of punishment for you."

Aegina just glared back at him, favoring Yggdra with a truly murderous expression for a few seconds before giving her brother her attention again. "I don't care, as long as you've got your head back in the _real _world now. I have an important report for you to look over before you—"

Gulcasa squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. _"Not now," _he begged. "If I see _one _more report right now, I'm going to lose my mind. I just spent the past three hours poring over paperwork and engaging in civil, altogether too technical discussion of it. I need to go _do _something right now."

"But, Gulcasa-nii—" Aegina protested.

"I don't care, I'll look at it when I get back. I'm taking Yggdra out for a dragon ride, since I promised her a while ago I'd teach her how," Gulcasa informed her. As Aegina swelled indignantly, he glared at her. "And I don't _care _about your personal opinion on the matter. I'll spend my time with whoever I damn well please."

"Gulcasa-nii—"

_"No, _and that's final," he replied snappishly, his eyes flashing dangerously.

As the two of them glared at each other, Yggdra took a step forward, holding up her hands beseechingly. "Um… please, you two…" she said awkwardly, looking from one to the other.

Aegina rounded on her furiously. _"You _stay out of it, you little—"

"ENOUGH," Gulcasa shouted, making Aegina flinch back, surprised. Before either of the girls could say anything, he took Yggdra by the hand and pulled her along the hall with him. "Come on, Yggdra. Let's get going."

Struggling to keep up, Yggdra watched Gulcasa anxiously. "Um… I…"

He looked back at her with regret in his eyes, slowing their pace a hair. "Look… I'm really sorry you had to see that. Aegina and Luciana… they can be a little overprotective, and they get jealous of everyone I'm close to, excluding themselves and Emilia. They may be my sisters, but they can be a little… much. It was the same way with Nessiah, when he first started staying with us—and they _still _don't get along with him very well."

"It's okay," Yggdra reassured him, just relieved that he'd lost that stormy expression. "I know that they only act this way because they love you…"

"That still doesn't make it excusable for them to act like that with you," Gulcasa said, but he sighed and let the subject drop. "Anyway… you, ah… you may want to change clothes if we're going to be riding. I know you can ride a horse sidesaddle, but astride is safer since you're inexperienced with dragons… so you'll probably want pants on. We'll ride double for a while just so you can get used to the way it feels, then you can try solo if you like. Either way, I'll always stay with you just in case." He nodded to her. "You should go get ready—I'll be down at the stables waiting for you."

"Okay." Yggdra smiled and squeezed his hand before letting go. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

She turned and ran off as he headed further down the hall, hands in his pockets and a faint smile on his face.

---

Yggdra was one of those girls who had that gift of looking amazing in anything she wore, even, Gulcasa imagined, if she ever had to resort to dressing in burlap after being dumped in mud and run through a tornado. She could pull together anything from rags to luxurious silk dresses with a perfect smile. All the same, her outfit when she walked through the stable doors dealt the finishing blow to Gulcasa's heart.

_She looks hopelessly adorable in denim, _the Emperor realized, bewildered and smitten. _I never knew._

Yggdra had taken his advice and dressed in a pair of slightly battered work pants, supple leather boots, and a white short-sleeved shirt with a tiny satin bow resting at the collar. Her hair was fastened with its customary black ribbon, and her tiara shone silver on her golden hair, even in the low light.

"I hope this is okay," Yggdra said shyly as she approached, starting to blush.

"It's… it's fine, don't worry," Gulcasa replied, aware that he was staring but unable to help himself.

"I… I mean, I… don't usually wear pants… because it's… not really all that feminine, is it?" Yggdra stared at the ground, going completely pink.

"I wouldn't say that—I mean, I know you like wearing dresses better, but… you look fine, you don't have to worry about it at all," Gulcasa told her, aware in the back of his mind that this could very well be one of those female conversational traps to which there was no correct reply. "You, uh… look good all the time. So don't worry about it."

Yggdra giggled self-consciously and covered her face. "Oh, what am I saying? I shouldn't worry about the way I look at a time like this, should I? I'm so self-absorbed sometimes. Please just forget I even said that."

"It's alright. Don't worry about it."

Still shaking her head at herself, Yggdra continued forward. Gulcasa noticed absently that a sweet scent hung around her hair, like it had recently been shampooed—something like honeysuckle, blended with a citrusy smell. The citrus made the scent playful, but it was still sweet and vaguely soothing.

Gulcasa's dragon let out a happy squeak at being reunited with Yggdra and enthusiastically butted her muzzle against the girl's shoulder, sniffing deeply and purring.

Yggdra giggled. "Hello. You're energetic today."

"She's definitely made up her mind that she likes you," Gulcasa agreed, feeling his face starting to heat up. "I think it's… 'cause you smell nice."

Yggdra looked up at him, surprised, and he ran his hands through his hair, berating himself for being so obvious. "A-anyway. Dragons have a different rhythm of movement from horses, so it may take you a while to get adjusted to that, but the most important thing you have to keep in mind is that the length and positions of the stirrups are different. On a horse, stirrups go all the way down to the belly, and you have more room to cling to stay on… but you ride a dragon with your legs curled, and your control is almost entirely indicated through the reins or spoken commands. Trying to spur a dragon wouldn't work anyway, since these guys' scales protect them against small wounds like that."

"Okay, I think I understand," Yggdra said with a nod.

"Good." Gulcasa mounted up in one fluid motion, then held out a hand to Yggdra. "Come on, I'll help you up. The sooner we can get started, the better."

Yggdra hesitated for a moment. "She'll be able to take the weight, right?"

"Of course. Dragons are hardy. Besides, I've done this a lot of times before with Nessiah on the battlefield—and that's with me in full plate armor, and while he's about the same height as you, with those chains he's quite a bit heavier. She'll be fine."

"Okay." Yggdra took his hand and let him pull her up to sit on the second, or pillion, pad on the dragon's saddle. As Gulcasa watched her over his shoulder, she carefully located the stirrups and slipped her feet into them.

"Now, as soon as you're used to the movement, we'll be going pretty fast, so you'll have to hold on to me," Gulcasa instructed.

Yggdra laid her hands tentatively on his hips. "Ah… o-okay…"

Gulcasa hung his head, starting to get embarrassed. "Uh… no, you'll have to hold on a lot tighter than that. And get closer. If we break into full gallop like this, you're going to fall off, and trust me, that's not fun."

Yggdra scooted up a few inches, to the point where Gulcasa could feel the warmth of her even though they weren't yet touching, and tightened her grip, winding her fingers through his belt loops.

"Um… okay, just let me…" Gulcasa removed Yggdra's hands from his hips and wrapped her arms lightly around his waist. "Like this. And hold on _tight, _I mean _really tight, _and lean in. When we get going at a decent speed it'll be instinctive, but…"

He heard Yggdra take a deep breath, then felt her close her arms around his waist and press in, fisting her hands in his shirt. "Is… this better…?"

Gulcasa shivered, hyperaware of the fact that his face was burning and _very _glad that he was facing away from Yggdra. She was so _warm. _Her cheek was pressed against his upper back, between his shoulderblades and cushioned on his hair, the inward curve of her belly fitting snugly against the ridge of his spine and bringing that unaccustomed warmth to the small of his back. And… he _very _distinctly felt the curve of her full breasts crushed to his back, as well.

_Oh. My. God._

_No, no, no—now is NOT the time to start thinking things like that!! This is absolutely no different from when you taught Nessiah to ride, so stop it right now! This is Yggdra, not some kind of… of…_

_Get it together!!_

"Y… yeah. That's fine," he replied at last, sure that either his embarrassment or the thoughts he was trying desperately to stifle had leaked into his voice. "Okay… let's go." He flapped the reins lightly, and his dragon started forward at a light walk, emerging into the paddock.

The practical reason to have Yggdra plastered to him even at this tame pace was that now she had no choice but to copy his movements, rather than floundering until she found the right rhythm to shift over the dragon's shoulders as they rode. It was considerably easier on her this way—as it had been for Nessiah as well—rather than how it had been for Gulcasa, who hadn't had the advantage of a tutor and had wound up with a lot of bruises until he'd managed to figure it out.

Once he judged that Yggdra had mastered the movements that went with a walk and a light trot, he turned slightly so he'd be able to address her. "Okay, now we're going to try something a bit more difficult. We want to be able to go ride out by the forest's edge for a while—so we're going to have to jump the fence."

"Jump—but couldn't we just—"

"I can't really lean over and undo the gate with another rider," Gulcasa told her truthfully. "Besides, this'll help to get you ready for running around outside. Don't be afraid. Just hang on to me and copy what I do."

Gulcasa walked his dragon over to one side of the paddock, then nudged her into a run, leaning forward over her neck and feeling Yggdra shift slightly to follow him. As they leaped, he arched his body back, then leaned forward again to absorb the landing. Yggdra was with him every step of the way.

"See? You did fine," he told her.

She didn't reply, but he was fairly sure he felt her smile.

---

Yggdra had gotten used to riding Gulcasa's dragon by now, and was entirely comfortable with all the rein commands. Once the two of them had gotten to the edge of the Marduk forest, she and Gulcasa had switched seats, so that she could practice her control with the security of having him sitting right behind her, ready to take over if she got into any kind of trouble.

She could tell that he was still slightly embarrassed at the degree of intimacy implied by their physical closeness, especially now that _he _was required to cling to _her, _but though she thought his hesitance was sweet, she'd gotten accustomed to that, too. He'd leaned in close, a warm and solid protective presence behind her, with one bandaged-up arm around her waist and his free hand resting on her forearm in case he needed to take the reins at all. At that moment, Yggdra knew she would've trusted him with anything, even her life.

As she sat in silent wonder at that realization, Gulcasa leaned in a little further, his lips at her ear. "You're doing well. Are you sure you're not ready to try on your own?"

In response, Yggdra smiled and snuggled back against him, looking up at him and feeling her cheeks flush for the hundredth time that day as she thought briefly that they were close enough to kiss. "I know I am, but… I just want to ride like this for a little longer," she told him.

"Ah…"

Before Gulcasa could form a reply, there was a rustle in the nearby brush that made them both look up. As they watched, an axe-wielding man dressed in furs emerged from the forest, followed by another and another.

Yggdra turned to Gulcasa, confused. "I don't see any flags… whose soldiers are they?"

Gulcasa was glaring at the axemen, a low and rumbling growl starting deep in his chest. "Not soldiers—bandits, thinking two travelers are easy pickings, no doubt. Damn it." So saying, he undid the three buckles that had held his scythe against his dragon's tack and spun it in an experimental circle. "Wait here, and stay on. I'll take care of this."

As he dismounted, Yggdra felt fear rise and flutter in her heart, and grabbed his forearm. "Gulcasa—"

He gave her a slight smile. "Don't worry. I won't kill any of them if I don't have to."

And he pulled out of her grip, stalking towards the bandits with his scythe in hand and a dangerous look on his face. Yggdra bit her lip and watched anxiously. _It's not them I'm worried about…_

"Think yer gonna fight us, eh?" one of the bandits said incredulously, laughing.

Gulcasa smirked. "You obviously have no idea who you're dealing with. A word to the wise—next time, pick an opponent who _doesn't _happen to be head and shoulders above you in skill. You'd better get out of here now if you don't want to get hurt."

"Get 'im, boys!" the bandit called, waving his fellows on. "We'll see if yer talkin' tough after we're done!"

Gulcasa shook his head tragically, flipping his scythe to hold it in both hands. "They just never learn."

With Yggdra looking on worriedly, he charged towards the ring of advancing bandits and swung his scythe in a wide arc, making them all jump back, yelping, to avoid it. Hardly pausing, Gulcasa lunged forward with a bestial snarl, slicing a bandit's axe in two when the man tried to block with it.

As the panicking bandits got back their nerve and came at Gulcasa in twos and threes, he twisted like a cat to avoid their strikes, then shifted his grip on his scythe and brought it around in a tight sweep, lashing out with all the force of his upper body to rend one bandit's upper arm open to the bone.

The bandit howled and staggered back, blood spurting from his wound, as a pair of his allies ran to support him. "You bastard! What did you do to him?!"

"Relax," Gulcasa said harshly, swinging his scythe in a slow and graceful circle above his head to shake the blood off. "The wound's not fatal or even dangerous. He'll just never wield an axe with that arm again."

"How _could _you!" another bandit yelled, shaking his axe at Gulcasa furiously. "How do you expect him to make a living _now?"_

"Try an honest career," Gulcasa retorted, setting the butt of his staff against the ground as he glared at them. "He got what he deserved, trying to steal from the Queen of Fantasinia."

All the bandits but the stricken one instantly turned to stare at Yggdra incredulously, all taking note of her tiara. "Are you serious? She's really the _Queen?"_

Gulcasa's dragon fidgeted beneath Yggdra; she tightened her hold on the reins and looked out at him anxiously. "Be careful, Gulcasa…"

"Well, then, that just means we'll have a bigger haul," a bandit yelled brazenly, and ran for Yggdra with his axe raised. Before he could get far, Gulcasa reached out with his scythe and tripped the man, knocking him to the ground and striding over to him with a black look on his face.

"You try that again and I'll kill you," Gulcasa promised him in a soft but deadly tone. The bandit stared up at him out of wide eyes and scooted away, nervously watching the blade of his scythe.

Seeing another bandit rushing in from behind, Yggdra let out a fearful cry. "No! Gulcasa, look out!!"

As the bandit leaped, Gulcasa reacted with blinding speed, grabbing hold of the bandit in midair and flinging the man down before him, bringing his scythe around in a wild swing that stopped only a hair's breadth from the bandit's throat.

"Leave now if you value your lives!" The snarling roar that issued from the Emperor's throat could hardly be classified as human. Finally deciding they'd had enough, the group of bandits fled into the forest.

Seeing Gulcasa relax and lean on his scythe, panting, Yggdra dismounted from his dragon and ran over to him. He was pale and sweating, and his hands were shaking; Yggdra's heart seized in terror that maybe one of the bandits' attacks had landed after all. "Gulcasa, are you alright?!"

But as she reached out to him, he flinched away, his eyes wild and wary through the curtain of hair that had fallen forward, obscuring them. "Don't touch me," he said hoarsely, almost fearfully.

"Gulcasa…"

"I'm not hurt," he told her, then shook his head and closed his eyes, swallowing hard. "Just… just keep your distance for a while. I… I'm sorry." After a while, he nodded to her. "We should… go back in. I'm sorry. I don't think I can… just go back to what we were doing right now."

Yggdra nodded in agreement, subdued. "Alright." On the inside, though, she wanted to scream. Before this happened, everything had been so perfect—just the two of them enjoying themselves, the burdens of their crowns momentarily forgotten, and the soft expanse of aloneness ahead of them in which three fragile words might at last have been said… but of course, something like this just _had _to happen and ruin everything, and now Gulcasa was somewhere distant and alien to her, deep in a private part of his own heart that she wasn't yet allowed to see. There would be no reaching him now, no reclaiming that brief but infinite joy. It wasn't fair!

Each of them took one side of the dragon's reins, and walked with her back towards Castle Karona in wounded silence.

---

Nessiah was there at the gate ten minutes before Gulcasa and Yggdra actually arrived, hovering anxiously while the guards first stared at him like he was crazy, then noticed the Emperor and the Queen coming and lowered the drawbridge. As soon as the two of them were inside, Gulcasa let go of his dragon's reins and walked off, leaving Yggdra standing there amidst the worried soldiers with their mount in her care and a saddened expression on her face.

Nessiah wavered indecisively for a moment, until Yggdra nodded to him and said "Go on". Trusting in her judgment of her own distress, he turned and ran after Gulcasa.

He'd run into Aegina shortly after the pair of them had left the castle altogether, and she'd accosted him to vent her frustration that Gulcasa had ignored her in favor of her half-sister, despite the fact that the information she'd had truly was important. After a few minutes, Nessiah had her calm enough to ascertain what her report had actually entailed: Early that morning, castle scouts had received word of highwaymen hassling travelers around the border of Marduk. Right where Gulcasa and Yggdra had been heading.

Nessiah hadn't been worried, at least at first. After all, this was _Gulcasa _they were talking about—he was more than a match for a group of disorganized road bandits, especially if he had someone to defend. But not long ago, he'd started getting an oppressively bad feeling, and so he'd headed out to the gate, afraid that one of them had been injured, or worse. He'd been wrong about that, but—Nessiah didn't think he'd ever seen Gulcasa with quite that expression on his face before. There was definitely _some _kind of underlying issue that had been stirred up outside.

That Nessiah had no idea what it could be, when Gulcasa told him just about _everything, _was a bad sign.

Entering the empty Imperial common room, Nessiah came upon the Emperor sitting in a corner of the room with his head in his hands and ventured slowly over to him.

"What happened out there?" he asked softly.

Gulcasa just looked up at him and didn't say anything, staring at his best friend out of haunted eyes.

"…If you don't want to tell me… if it's too personal… that's fine," Nessiah decided aloud. "Just… no matter what it is, remember… I'm here for you. You're not alone."

Gulcasa slumped forward in his seat, leaning his forehead against the soft hollow just beneath Nessiah's ribs. "I… I can't…"

"It's okay," Nessiah told him, knowing better than to try to press Gulcasa for more information. "It's okay. Just don't say anything." Leaning down, he put his arms around his old friend, just wishing there was something more he could do. "I'm here."

:TBC:

**Timeline:** As mentioned by Gulcasa earlier, we're in early March now, just slightly before certain guys are about to go postal with White's Day worries. This may not seem to have much to do with the main plot at the moment, but trust me, it's important.

**Where's everyone else?:** Even if this wasn't an important event, Yggdra and Gulcasa kind of ARE the main couple in this story, so they deserve a chapter to themselves for once. The subplots will all be back next time, so don't worry.


	9. Last Minute Measures

Stupid Cupid

See disclaimer in part 1

Roughly a week after the dragon-riding incident, the cold was back in the air, the periodic rains that hit the castle had become sleet, and it became rarer for anyone to venture outside, the only exception being the Imperial knights with dragons, who continued to exercise their mounts, even in the worsening weather. As outdoor exploits were no longer an option, the ladies of the Royal Army took to spending their time together in the tower.

"I can't believe White's Day is already just a few days away," Yggdra remarked, flopping back against the bed with a sigh. "Time really has flown."

"You are going to be _inundated _with gifts," Rosary informed her. "Since you insisted on getting practically every guy in the castle something, I'm honestly shocked that they're not all running around panicked at this very instant over you."

"I heard some of the guys talking, and it sounds like everyone Yggdra got candy for is doing a collaboration thing except Gulcasa," Kylier offered. "That's probably why there isn't mass chaos. Anyway, shouldn't you be more concerned with yourself than Yggdra?"

"What do you mean?" Rosary demanded suspiciously, giving her a sidelong glare.

"Well, you might not've meant it that way, but you gave Roswell his little apology present on Valentine's Day, so that means he's obligated to get you something now," Kylier explained with upraised eyebrows. "Didn't you think of that?"

"The last thing I need is _you _reading things into that. There wasn't any kind of ulterior motive. There just wasn't any other way I could get the message across without his running for the hills."

"Well, whatever. Aren't you wondering?"

"Roswell's got pretty good taste in gifts," Rosary informed her loftily, tossing her long brown hair. "Even if we haven't been in that habit for a while, I'm sure nothing has changed since then."

"I'm tempted to ask, but I know you'll just bite my head off if I do, so I won't," Kylier replied, then turned to the other girls. "What about the rest of you?"

"Whatever Russell decides to give me, it doesn't matter," Flone said with a smile. "Besides… there's no way he's _ever _going to be able to top last year's White's Day present."

"What did he do then?" Yggdra asked curiously.

Flone went pink and clasped her hands over her heart, sighing. "Last year on White's Day was when Russell _proposed _to me."

"That's so _romantic," _Elena said with a sigh of her own.

"Someone get me a barf bag," grumbled Rosary, shaking her head at her companions.

"Oh, you just shut it," Kylier said, tossing a pillow at the young witch. "Honestly, you act like some jaded old woman all the time. At least have a little respect for Flone and Russell."

"Fine, fine, however you want it. Although the 'old' part was definitely uncalled for." Rosary crossed her legs and leaned back, draping her long hair over the edge of the sofa. "So what about you? You said you gave Milanor something last year—what did he give you in return then?"

Kylier made a face. "Ugh. It's not that it's that big a deal, not now, but… ouch. Last year, Milanor's idea of a White's Day present was to invite me on a raid with his crew. Not that it wasn't fun or anything, but… it was absolutely the most unromantic date I have _ever _been on. This year, I don't care so much, so long as it's not some buddy-buddy, just-between-friends kind of present."

"That sucks," Rosary said with a pitying sigh. "So what about you, Yggdra? You worried about what Gulcasa's gonna give you, since the rest of the guys are doing their thing together?"

"It's like Flone and Kylier said," Yggdra told her, instantly going bright red. "It… doesn't matter to me. Anything is fine, anything at all. Just his getting me a return gift… would be proof that he accepts and returns my feelings. It would… really and truly be a blessing. Truly."

" 'Accepts and returns'…" Rosary shook her head, staring at the young queen. "Uh, are we talking about the same Gulcasa here? The one I mean is the Emperor of Bronquia whose life you saved not so very long ago, the one who goes stupid every time you walk through the same _room _as him, and who, may I add, turns exactly the same color as his hair every time someone brings up your _name _in conversation with him. I don't think there's any doubt at all in the 'returning your feelings' department."

"Oh… oh," Yggdra squeaked, and covered her face, abashed.

"Rosary-san…" Elena protested, flustered.

"Sorry, sorry." The witch grinned. "I know I should really stop picking on you, but you're just so funny when you're embarrassed… he's like that too. And that's good, you know—that even though the two of you have a lot of differences, you've also got a lot of stuff in common."

"You really think…?" Yggdra asked timidly, peeking through her fingers.

"Well, of course," Kylier said with a grin, reaching over to shove her in the shoulder. "Think about it for a sec. You're both orphans, you're both monarchs, you both inherited some really nasty responsibilities, and you're both the kind of people who'd go to any lengths for a loved one even if it meant disregarding yourself."

"You like a lot of the same things, and you even have the same favorite food," Flone put in, resting her chin on the heel of her hand and giving Yggdra a warm smile. "And from the looks of things, you two take real interest in each other's hobbies. You're a very lucky young lady, you know. Gulcasa seems to be something like my Russell—he's very devoted to those he's close to… just as much so as you are."

"And you already have such a deep understanding of each other," Elena added, laying a hand over her heart. "That's something I don't have with Zilva-sama yet. It makes me a little jealous…"

"Heck, you even both blush really easily, and you're both virgins—" Rosary began.

_"Rosary!" _Yggdra squealed, her face pure crimson, hiding in the nearby pillows.

"Hey, just because _you've _had sex, you don't get to pick on those of us who haven't!" Kylier snapped, flushing pink as she glared at the laughing noblewoman.

"A-and how do you think you can judge that of His Majesty anyway?" Elena demanded, squeaking in indignation even as she went redder than Yggdra.

"Pfft, can there possibly be any doubt?" Rosary asked flippantly. "Just the fact that he gets so embarrassed while he's around her is proof enough! No self-respecting man with experience would ever be so visibly unsure of himself with a girl around."

"Now, now," Flone said, giggling. "Settle down, all of you. Everyone's already excited enough without our getting into arguments like this."

Rosary rolled over on the sofa, snickering. "So sorry. I'll behave myself, I promise."

"You always say that, and then you never do," Kylier grumbled, throwing a pillow at her.

"Okay, so what _else _is there to talk about…?" Flone asked, shaking her head wryly. "…Yggdra, how have the negotiations been going? Since we don't get asked in, sometimes it's hard for us to find out."

Yggdra nodded into the pillows and sat up. "Well… today we were outlining part of the treaty that Lombardia wanted to resettle…"

---

"This… is bad," Milanor said bleakly, staring down at his hands as he sat numbly on the sofa.

_"Very _bad," Gulcasa corrected from where he sat next to the young thief.

"What is?" a third voice asked blankly. The guys all turned; they'd been joined by Russell, who was looking at them curiously with a white box under his arm and flecks of sleet melting into water on his deep violet hair—he'd just come in from a trip outside.

Roswell, reclining on the side of the door on the opposite side of the room, tried to smooth out a smile with little success. "These two are trying to decide on their White's Day gifts, and finding it difficult."

"We're just here to offer moral support," Nessiah added, walking around from beside the back of the sofa to sit on Gulcasa's armrest.

"Moral support, my ass," Milanor retorted, still staring gloomily at his shoes. "They're here to laugh at us."

"But you and Kylier have known each other for years," Russell reminded him, still sounding surprised. "Surely it can't be _that _hard…?"

"Says _you," _Milanor replied, looking up at him. "It's not like I can just take her out for dinner or something, 'cause even though she's not a vegan like Elena, she's pretty picky about what she can and can't eat, and she'll probably get mad if I try to give her anything I stole! I don't know what I'm supposed to give her that she'll like. Why's this stupid holiday such a big deal anyway?"

"I know what you're thinking, and don't," Gulcasa said with a sigh. "Take it from a guy who's grown up surrounded by girls, ignoring White's Day is _relationship suicide. _This kind of thing is important to the opposite sex."

Milanor just groaned.

"Where were you anyway, Russell?" Nessiah asked the Astral Fencer. "We sent Durant and Cruz looking for you, but you weren't anywhere they thought to try."

Russell held up his box and smiled. "I was just getting Flone's White's Day gift."

"Really? What'd you decide on?" Milanor wondered, looking up hopefully.

"This is a pearl necklace I know she's been looking at for a while," Russell explained. "She decided that we probably shouldn't waste money on it, but I know she wants it. I can tell she'll be happy with it."

"So, jewelry is a good idea…" The Silver Wolf grimaced. "But there's no way I could scrounge up enough actual cash for it. Man, this really sucks."

"That's very thoughtful of you," Nessiah said with a smile, ignoring Milanor completely.

"Thanks. Well—what about the rest of you? Have you got your gifts ready?"

"Rosary's is already taken care of," Roswell asserted with a soft smile. "I got things settled earlier this month, so I've nothing to worry about."

"Good for you, Mr. Foresight," Milanor said sourly. Roswell ignored him.

"I only had two gifts to work on this year, and the bigger project of the two—organizing the men for Yggdra's thank-you gift—was finished just yesterday. My other one is almost done, and after we're through here I'm going to go add the last few touches," Nessiah told Russell.

"I have one idea, but… it's so pathetic and cliché," Gulcasa said deflatedly, giving Russell a pitiful look. "I have _got _to come up with a backup plan."

"You two want some pointers, then?" Russell offered with a gracious smile.

_"Please," _Milanor exclaimed, turning pleading eyes on his old comrade.

"Well, unless a girl really, really loves chocolate, getting her some for White's Day is supreme bad taste," Russell explained. "That's what she got you, so it can be taken as both unoriginal and a rejection of what she gave, and besides, a lot of girls nowadays are too sensitive about their weight for you to give them food on a day like this. If she likes flowers, or you really know yours, you can do that, but if you don't know much about them, I'd advise to stay away from that."

"Why?" Milanor asked blankly.

"Well, the fact that you grew up in squalor may excuse most of your lack of knowledge, but I still have to call you on your idiocy here," Nessiah said loftily. "The general gift of a bouquet is most often interpreted as an apology offering, and even beyond that, each type of flower has its own particular meaning—a single red rose is commitment and fidelity, irises symbolize belief in oneself, an anemone is the disappearance of hope, orchids are a pledge that you'll always carry the recipient in your heart, and so on. Again, unless she likes a particular flower regardless of its meaning, stay away from them. Flower arrangement is way over your head."

As Milanor glared at Nessiah, Russell shook his head at the two of them. "…While Nessiah could definitely have phrased it a little more tactfully, he's still right. Jewelry is good, but it's expensive. If you want to be traditional, you can always give her a white ribbon, but that's also a serious promise of commitment, so you have to be sure before you offer one of those up."

"So… isn't there _anything _that I can do, since all of those seem to be bad for me to try?" Milanor asked with a groan, headslumping.

"Well… yes. Regardless of age and circumstances, it is _really _rare to find girls who don't like stuffed animals," Russell told him. "So if I had to recommend any one thing, that'd be it."

"Plushies?" Milanor repeated blankly. "That's what you really think I should…?"

"As long as you know what her favorite animal is—and I _know _you do—you can't go wrong with something that cute," Roswell said, raising his eyebrows at the thief.

"Yeah, but it's so _simple. _You guys seriously aren't BSing me?"

"There's a reason the twins have stashes of teddy bears still hidden in their closets. Those sure aren't Emilia's, after all. And you never heard that from me," Gulcasa said quickly. "…Ye gods, they'll kill me if they ever hear I let that slip…"

Milanor shook his head. "You guys have _gotta _be joking."

Nessiah leaned across Gulcasa to poke Milanor in the center of his forehead. "Scorn our advice all you want. If you don't trust us, go ask Yggdra or one of the other girls. They'll just tell you the same thing."

"Plushies," Milanor repeated, bewildered. "Who'da thunk it?"

"Evidently not you," Nessiah said with a derisive sniff, folding his arms.

"Shut up."

"Well, so long as that crisis is taken care of, I have to go get this wrapped," Russell told his audience, wiggling the box holding Flone's gift. "See you all later."

A chorus of "'Bye"s followed him out of the room.

"I should get going too," Roswell agreed. "Milanor, if you're going to get Kylier anything at all, you'd better get on it, so now you've got a plan, I think I'll point you to a few places you can get more help."

"Okay." The two of them headed off, leaving Gulcasa and Nessiah alone.

"…Well, it's good Milanor has an idea now, but…" Gulcasa said at length. "What am I, chopped liver?"

Nessiah shook his head. "Well… if you can bear with me for a little while, I'll see what I can do to help."

"Thanks."

"I have to stop by my workshop first, and finish up Kylier's gift. Then we can talk. …And it would help if you'd actually tell me what it is," Nessiah pointed out, gathering up his spellbook and heading towards the door.

Gulcasa stood up with a groan, looking evasively away. "That's because it's… it's just embarrassing, okay? I'll show you later, when you're done."

"You're coming with me," Nessiah said pointedly, and took the Emperor by the wrist, pulling him down the hall towards the Imperial tower.

"But you _never _let anyone into that place, especially not when you're cooking something up in there," Gulcasa protested, surprised.

"I'm making an exception because it's you," Nessiah replied, turning towards him with a brief smile. "Just don't get used to it. And don't bother me too much; this is delicate work, and I would hate to have to start over now, when it's almost done."

The two of them headed into the tower, then up to the story just above the top floor—Gulcasa's room—and into a smaller room near the tower's outer wall. The door was solid rowan with iron bands along the planks and a sheaf of creamy vellum pinned to the outside, with the message "Keep out or die horribly" proclaimed cheerfully with shimmery purple ink in Nessiah's beautiful calligraphic handwriting.

Once the two of them were inside, Nessiah closed the door firmly behind them and slid home two deadbolt locks afterwards. Watching, Gulcasa winced.

"Is it really okay for me to be in here?"

"Just the fact that you're asking me that tells me you're the one person I can allow in," Nessiah assured him. "Believe me, if I thought you'd be a danger to any of my works, you wouldn't be in here. I know you'll be careful not to touch anything important."

"Careful, he says…" Gulcasa said under his breath as Nessiah took off his tattered purple overrobe and draped it carelessly over a nearby chair.

The cramped stone room was a stunning array of brilliant clutter and barely ordered chaos. It was dominated by a stone table with rounded edges and a set of wireworking tools set slightly off from its center, alongside a small crucible, a pair of tongs, and a scattered handful of precious gems. Shoved into the corner was a drafting table covered in papers, sitting across the room from a small granite kiln. Along the small window's ledge hung an assortment of ankhs, all in different shapes, made of different materials.

"Those are…?" Gulcasa wondered aloud with a frown, staring.

"Oh—those ankhs?" Nessiah pointed, watching as Gulcasa nodded. "They're multipurpose, none as powerful or as destructive as the two I made for Verlaine. Back home, ankhs are used for lots of things, depending on the spells encoded within them. You could use them to store messages or healing or even a specific spell that can be used over and over… the infamous ones were power amplifiers."

"I… see." Gulcasa shook his head and continued looking around.

There were a few papers on the floor too, mostly scattered around an open chest that seemed to hold materials, as well as stacks of the tactical cards now used throughout Midgard for battle. It had amazed Gulcasa to learn that Nessiah had actually created all of those in use in his world, but he'd been forced to admit belief when Nessiah had pointed out his personal crest, the emblem of a crossed black and white wing, on the back of each one. It was the same symbol that appeared on the cover of the Revelation of the Gods, as well as on the flag Nessiah had always carried into battle.

As Gulcasa stood in silent wonder, Nessiah pulled something small and shiny out of the crucible on the table with a pair of tongs, then held them up to the light. "Beautiful," he murmured to himself, then dragged his chair from the desk over to the side of the table and swept his materials towards him, hunching over in his seat to work.

"You can talk," Nessiah told him suddenly. "It won't distract me."

"I just—don't want to be in the way," Gulcasa replied disjointedly. "…The work you do is really amazing."

"So you say, but this place is a makeshift workshop at best, something I could pack up in half an hour if I had to. The one in Flarewerk is much more suitable. Still, beggars can't be choosers, and this isn't something I can afford to run back to the capital for. And the quality of materials down here is far inferior to those back home. I'm limited by what I have in front of me. I could never… oh, I could never make anything remotely like the Gran Centurio down here."

"Really…"

"I poured my soul into that sword. Hardly left my workshop for a month, and that was just crunch time. Even if I ever could go home—I could never make anything like it again. It was my masterwork, and it took everything I had in me to create. And in the end, it just went to waste anyway…"

"Nessiah…"

"You don't have to bother. I'm fine." Nessiah paused, then set one strange tool Gulcasa didn't recognize aside in favor of another.

"You're not. I can hear it in every word you say. Thinking about your exile still hurts you," Gulcasa asserted. "Even now, you're… still calling that place your home. It's not something you can help, so don't act as though it's something you have to hide."

"…………"

"You'll probably never be able to tell any of us what actually happened back then, because it was too traumatic, but… when it gets to be too bad, you can always come to us. We're here for you."

"…thank you."

"Hey, would I do anything less for my genius artificer best friend?" Gulcasa asked wryly, leaning in as Nessiah held up the tiny object he'd been working on with a smile. "That's really beautiful, by the way."

"Spelled for luck, health, and protection," Nessiah said, and stood. "I have to wait a little while, then check again to make sure the seals took. In the meantime, you and I can see about your White's Day problem."

"Oh… oh yeah." Gulcasa had halfway forgotten about it, his worries eclipsed by the wonder of being allowed into this painfully intimate space—being granted this monumental marker of trust. With the rush of memory came the predictable rush of blood into his face. "But I mean it, this is seriously bad. It was all I could think of, and…"

"I think I'll be the judge of that instead," Nessiah replied in a mild tone, reaching for his overrobe and heading back for the door. "Come on."

Gulcasa hung his head and groaned, but followed Nessiah up the stairs and into his room.

"Now, where have you got this so-called bad gift I keep hearing about?" the blind mage asked practically, hands on his hips.

Too ashamed to speak, Gulcasa pointed towards the dresser.

Nessiah headed over to it, then shook his head. "Where—_oh!"_

Gulcasa shook his head, glancing around frantically. "It's—it's so _typical _and, and—it's so lame and stupid and nowhere near what I should be getting, and—"

"This is so _sweet,"_ Nessiah exclaimed, turning back towards his friend with a hand over his heart. "Gulcasa, I had no idea you were such a romantic!"

"But it's so…" Gulcasa protested numbly, at a loss for words.

"It's so _perfect. _I can't believe you'd think Yggdra wouldn't like this. She's going to treasure it forever. Even though you might think it's simple, or old-fashioned—it's proof that you really are devoted to her, and that's what she's truly looking for. No, you don't have to worry about anything. You're doing fine just like this."

"If you really think so…" Gulcasa said defeatedly, letting his voice trail off.

Nessiah walked back towards him and clapped him on the shoulder with a smile. "Trust the words of a friend who wants nothing more than to see you two happy together, with something like that, you _cannot _fail. Girls appreciate sentimentality, especially girls like the one you're going to give that present to."

"I hope you're right."

"I _know _I'm right. Once White's Day is over, nothing is ever going to stand between you two again," Nessiah said confidently.

Gulcasa just shook his head and didn't say anything.

_But… when it comes to that, you _are _wrong. There _is _still something standing in the way of my living the life I long for. Something important._

_…Something I can't even tell you._

"Don't worry," Nessiah told him suddenly, sobering. "Yggdra loves you more than anything. I know you've still got a lot on your mind… but she'll be able to accept that, and she'll help you through it if there's any way she can possibly do so. The same way I know you can do for her. Open up to her a little… tell her what's on your mind. You know… saying how you feel isn't a bad White's Day gift, either."

"…Maybe you're right," Gulcasa agreed, nodding. "Okay… I'll try it. When the time comes… I'll talk to her, and we'll see what happens."

"Good," the fallen angel said. "Well—I'm off. I've still got a few things to see to before White's Day comes, but I'll check up on you later, alright? After all, that's what friends are for."

Gulcasa smiled as he left. "…I suppose so…"

:TBC:

Notes on the text

**Flowers: **The meanings behind floral gifts are a little more complex than this author can fully grasp, too, so obviously Milanor hasn't got a hope there. The meanings of the flowers cited (iris, anemone, orchid) are explained in Spiral, Eureka Seven, and Final Fantasy: Unlimited. (See? You do learn things from watching anime!)

**White ribbons:** The symbolism of white ribbons is explained in DNAngel volume 3, and they're basically a lucky charm meant to make love last between a young couple. More of that will likely be explained in later chapters here.

**Nessiah's workshop:** He is an artificer, after all, and he's still been making things throughout the course of the game, so he obviously has to have a place to do it! Aside from their use as long-range artillery in Yggdra Union, Ankhs are utilized in various media for magical purposes—in Riviera, for example, they're used to encode spells—and they originate in Egyptian mythology as holy symbols of life. It is, by the way, true that Nessiah seems to have made the tactical cards used in YU—they all do have his crest on the back, which can be seen as well on the Revelation of the Gods and Nessiah's flag (visible on the Battle Order menu displayed before a Clash while fighting him or any of his resurrected minions).

**Just what ARE Kylier and Yggdra's gifts?:** Now, now, that would be telling! (dodges thrown cooking utensils) Heh, you'll find out in the next chapter or so. There's a REASON I've omitted most of the guys' plans.


	10. Thawing Hearts

Stupid Cupid

See disclaimer in part 1

Rosary awoke refreshed from her full night's sleep, feeling playful and predatory and only made more so by the knowledge that today it was White's Day at last.

Starting to grin in anticipation of the fun today would bring, Rosary stretched and fluffed out her hair. She supposed that it couldn't be helped that much, but she worried that all this sleeping on linen might be starting to show its wear and tear: Silk sheets were much better for your skin, and even though they'd cost her a fortune, they were what she always used at home. Still, as long as the negotiations were going on, Rosary supposed she'd have to live with the slight to her vanity. She and Roswell had to be there to support Yggdra and Gulcasa, after all—Lombardia was being particularly sticky and disagreeable despite the Royal Army's old ally Gordon's attempts to even things out, and many of the Temple Knights had looked like they were going to blow blood vessels when Yggdra had announced to everyone's surprise that she intended to return Orlando to the care of its original owners, the farmers and nomads who traversed its plains. As the Merian papacy had always been the staunchest supporters of the Fantasinian domination of the continental lands, it was going to take Yggdra and her allies quite a bit of wheedling to get the conservatives there to view Orlando as its own neutral territory again.

That was more important than a few tiny signs of chafing, wasn't it?

Rosary shook her head at herself and got dressed, deciding to tie her hair back with a band of pale pink lace rather than wearing her favorite hat today. She looked in the mirror, decided for a fresh-faced look instead of her usual light touch-up of mascara and foundation, and sauntered down towards the pub where alcohol was temporarily eschewed in favor of breakfast.

Sitting down and picking up the menu, Rosary pursed her lips slightly and looked at the list, trying to decide what she wanted to eat. Before she got too far, though, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Here you are, miss," one of the waiters said, placing a plate of pancakes in front of her. They'd been made just how Rosary liked them—big, fluffy, and golden, with a slight spill of syrup over them and the Sweetberry, peach slice, and half-melted square of apple butter placed in the middle of the top one.

"But I didn't…?" Rosary said with a frown, confused.

"Oh, don't worry, this has already been paid for," the waiter assured her.

Nonplussed, Rosary handed him her menu, then took a forkful of pancake and sampled it. Her eyes went wide, and she stared down at her food in shock.

"What's the matter, miss? You—don't like it?" the waiter asked hesitantly.

Rosary whirled around to him, starry-eyed and nearly in tears. "You have got to be _kidding. _These are sooo _perfect! _Please, please just do me one thing: Find the chef and tell him I wanna _marry _him!"

The waiter laughed. "Well, actually, miss, you can tell him yourself. He's right over there."

"What?"

The waiter pointed over to a table a little further away, where Roswell was sitting down with a few of his attendants, apparently deep in discussion with them about something on the menu.

Rosary _gawked._

_"What?!"_

Roswell seemed to notice he was being talked about and looked over at her, the very picture of innocent confusion, folding his menu back up as he called to her, "Is something wrong?"

"Don't you 'is something wrong' _me!"_ Rosary stood up and pointed down at those perfect pancakes. "You can _COOK?"_

Roswell pushed his chair back and stood up as well, looking anxious. "You don't like them?"

"N-no! Of course I do! I'm just _surprised! _Since when do you cook?" Rosary demanded.

"For a while now," he replied, a relieved smile crossing his face. "I've found that I like to. And—if you like those, you'll want to finish them before they get too cold, right?"

"Oh. Oh yeah." Rosary sat down, realizing how many people were watching them with interest. "Uh… well, thanks…"

"Don't thank me until you have the rest," Roswell said simply, following suit. "…I'm glad you enjoy them."

Rosary shook her head and went back to eating, amazed. _Damn, he's a lot better at this than I remembered, _she thought to herself. _…White's Day _and _food._

Still, it wasn't as if she was going to complain. She _loved _pancakes.

Polishing them off and flipping a coin to the waiter for his service (despite his protests that he hadn't really done anything), Rosary headed back upstairs to her room to think. Just then… Roswell had seemed less like the distant, guarded man who was her rival in magic and more like the sensitive, kindhearted boy who'd been her best friend, so long ago.

When she entered her bedroom, Rosary found another surprise: A wide flush of pink and white roses sat in a tall glass vase on her dresser, with a small white card propped against its base.

Rosary headed over to the flowers and basked in their sweet scent with a smile before opening the card.

_Happy White's Day, _Roswell's slanted, scrolled handwriting proclaimed in steady black ink. _Take a last walk in the garden with me before it gets too cold? Meet me at the door if you're interested._

Rosary smiled and shook her head, deciding she might as well indulge him and wondering how he'd managed to pull off this stunt in the short opening he'd had. This had obviously taken planning. Then she looked back at the message and stared at the last two words written there with a slight shock.

_Love, Roswell._

"Love…" Rosary murmured, touching the word with a frown. Usually he would just have put "from" or something else, since it was to her. Knowing from experience that the more slanted Roswell's writing was, the more hurried he'd been, and taking note of the perfect forty-five-degree angle of his words, Rosary decided it had probably been a slip of his pen, so to speak.

But why would his first instinct have been to write "love"?

Weird.

Rosary fingered her rose brooch, the heirloom of the house of Esmeralda, and shook her head. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Doubtless Roswell was busy; if she didn't hurry down to meet him, he would assume she wasn't coming at all and leave.

And if not out of being busy, his low self-esteem would probably get the better of him and convince him there was no way she'd want to spend the day with him, and send him crawling back to his own rooms, hurt.

Damn it.

With a sigh and a shake of her head, Rosary found her fur-trimmed cloak and tied it on, rushing back out of the Royal tower. If she hurried, she'd probably be able to make it.

---

It wasn't as though Elena hadn't been expecting it some time today, but when she turned around and suddenly found Zilva standing right behind her, it still took her by surprise.

"Z-Zilva-sama?" she squeaked, going pink both from her beloved mentor's proximity and the slight shame at being snuck up on unawares.

"Elena." Zilva's pale gold eyes were calm, and she was smiling slightly. "I believe there's a matter for the two of us to discuss."

"Um… y-yes, Zilva-sama," Elena agreed with a quick bow. She knew that few other people were using the castle library at the moment, so it would probably be fine for the two of them to talk here.

"…I've reached the point in time in my career as head of the Imperial Special Forces that I must begin to consider naming a successor," Zilva said after a pause.

"But, Zilva-sama—" Elena protested, wide-eyed.

Zilva held up a hand to stop her, shaking her head. "Such is our fate, that our occupation comes with many hazards. It's rare to see a successful assassin much older than her mid-thirties—by then she will either have died in the line of duty, or stepped down to allow someone with fresh skills and sharper senses to take the lead. Elena, times are changing and the wars have subsided, but to let down our guard and expose His Majesty to needless danger would be folly. More so now than ever before, he is the hope of all of Bronquia, and the Special Forces will revert to its original function, as spies and gatherers of information to guard the Dragon Throne. He and the new Queen of Fantasinia must be protected at all costs."

Elena nodded. "…I know. Their Majesties are going to create a bright new future for us all."

"Yes. And for their sake, I must have my plans in order for the day I will no longer be able to serve them. I have served as mentor to all new recruits in the Special Forces, but rarely have I come across those who might be able to succeed me. That is why… I am very glad to know that Bronquia and Fantasinia are now allies."

"What do you mean…?" Elena asked hesitantly, confused.

"Because without that alliance, I wouldn't be able to propose to extend the network of the Special Forces to defend both countries… nor would I be able to name you my successor."

Elena went bright pink. "Z-Zilva-sama…!"

Zilva's slight smile grew. "I can think of none worthier, Elena."

"B-but…!"

"Don't protest. It can only be you, Elena… because you are the only one of my students capable of besting me in combat, and leading the Special Forces down an honorable road when I no longer can."

"Zilva-sama…" Elena shook her head, flustered. "But… it's far too early to start thinking of such things, isn't it…? I… don't want to think of a day when you won't be in command of our forces…"

"That's exactly why I've chosen you," Zilva told her. When Elena didn't try to object again, she removed a red band of cloth from one of the pouches on her belt and tied it around Elena's upper right arm. "This sigil, like my own, has been passed down the command of the Special Forces for generations. I received it from my teacher, and now I'm entrusting it to you… although for you, there's been a slight alteration added."

"…Alteration…?" Elena looked first at the black band on Zilva's arm, with the black dragon rampant of Bronquia's flag outlined in red emblazoned on it, then at the one now on hers. Next to the symbol of her cherished homeland was a newly stitched pale yellow firebird: Fantasinia's White Phoenix. "This… Zilva-sama…"

"I hope this is a sufficient White's Day gift for you," Zilva said with that slight smile of hers, reaching out and placing her hand on Elena's chest, right over her suddenly thudding heart.

"Zilva-sama…" Blush bloomed over Elena's face like a spring carnation. "I… I don't know what to say…"

"Then don't say anything." Elena complied, but her jumbled thoughts became one long, exultant squeal of mingled amazement and pure joy as Zilva leaned in and lightly brushed her lips against her student's.

She couldn't believe she'd ever thought this year's Valentine's Day and White's Day could go wrong—she was in _heaven._

---

Roswell looked up, surprised, as Rosary came flying down the corridor to skid to a halt at the garden gates, huffing, her breath little puffs of white in the chilled air.

"Did I… keep you… waiting…?" the heir to the White Rose asked as she tried to get her breath back.

Roswell shook his head. "No. It's not as if I have anything of importance to do today, it's fine."

Rosary scowled up at him, pink-faced. "You suck. I can't believe I ran all the way down here to find you if you didn't have something else to go do. I swear, I don't know why I get all worked up for things like this."

"…?" Roswell just gave her a confused look.

"…Never mind. Let's just go."

"…That's so like you, Rosary," he told her with a smile, and offered her his arm. "Shall we head out, then, fair lady of the White Rose?"

"Oh… oh," Rosary's face flamed, and she shook her head vigorously as if to clear away the blush. "That's not fair! Don't just turn on the charm when I'm mad… now you've got me acting like Yggdra. Stupid Roswell!"

Embarrassed and irritated with herself for getting embarrassed, Rosary put her arm through his and clutched it tightly as the two of them headed into the chilly garden.

Though only a month ago this place had still been flourishing, the late return to summer weather was most definitely over, and winter was rushing in, right on schedule. The flowers and plants that still remained were caked in a sugary-looking coat of glittering frost; if the castle's weather mages were right and they were in for a dusting of snow later this week, this place would be a beautiful ice palace for a few days.

Then, of course, the cold would kill the last remaining blooms, and the garden would return to its annual sleep until the warmth of spring reawakened the earth.

As the two magicians walked arm in arm down the frost-dusted cobbled path, Roswell looked down at her with a regretful smile. "…I've really missed this."

The sad tone of his voice hurt her heart; for once she didn't try to put up a witty front and simply answered, "So have I…"

They lapsed back into silence, looking around the painfully lovely, dying garden. Rosary shook her head and thought to herself, _So much we missed out on, so much trouble caused, all because of a couple of stupid artifacts, when this is what really matters._

The thought felt false, and Rosary knew in her heart that things had been falling apart between the two of them since long before Nessiah had left the Ankhs in their hands.

Memory resurfaced deep within her, painful and stark, bringing back things Rosary hadn't wanted to think about ever again—an agreement between friends that had seemed practical but had become something nerve-wracking at the last second; the rapid, frightened beat of Roswell's heart against hers; soft, unfamiliar black silk sheets; a moment of brief sweet pain; a split second when she'd felt like she was flying.

Their parents' disgusted rage.

"That time, three years ago…" Rosary turned towards Roswell as he hesitantly began to speak, not surprised that he'd been thinking the same things as her. "It was a mistake. We _knew _it was a mistake. If we hadn't—then maybe things wouldn't have gotten so… so out of control."

"We were just stupid kids back then," Rosary told him. "We didn't think about things, we just did them. And—because of that, you were 'free'. That was when you finally faced down your folks, right?"

"That doesn't matter," Roswell said stubbornly. _"That _argument would have happened sooner or later anyway. It wasn't worth the trouble _you _got into with _your_ parents. We heard about it, eventually—the way they treated you after that was horrible. Besides—regardless of all our good intentions and practicality, the first time is supposed to be special, something you share with the one you love. It—whatever it was that we had, that broke it, Rosary. After what we did, and what your parents said… everything was just too awkward. We couldn't go back to the way things were."

"…Most of that was my fault," Rosary admitted slowly. "I—didn't want to blame myself for the pain I was in, so I blamed you, and I didn't give any thought at all to what you must've been going through. Roswell, you were way too sensitive back then, but it was only after that whole mess that you started playing with razors. And I tried to ignore all _that, _too. We just… did all the wrong things."

"Rosary, I'm sorry." He wouldn't look at her. "I've—wanted to say it for three years, but my pride has always been in my way. I'm so sorry. I just wish—but I could never ask you to forgive me."

"It wasn't your fault," Rosary insisted, slipping her arm out of his in order to squeeze his black-gloved hand. "We were too young to know better, and we made a dumb mistake and wound up hurting each other. The first time _is _supposed to be special. By not taking into account what we would go through afterwards, we sold ourselves short—we sold _each other _short. And so… I'm sorry, too."

"…………" Roswell looked down at her. "Is it… too late, even so…?"

"Hmm…" Rosary let go of his hand and walked off a few steps, looking up at the ice-blue sky. "…You know, once when I was reading a book of our ancestor Valois' poetry as part of my studies, I found this one poem that talked about friendship, comparing it to a garden. It said that it has to be taken care of and looked after, and that it weathers seasons just like one in real life. Roswell, maybe… maybe these past three years have just been like winter for us. Even though it's been hard, and a lot of what was between us got lost or broken… there's still something there, something that can grow. That's… what I want to believe."

"I hope you're right," Roswell said softly. "…I miss my best friend."

"Well…" Rosary turned back towards him with a crooked smile. "So do I. And… since it's mostly my fault that you're like this right now, I want you to know… I'm not going to screw up anymore. I'm not going to hurt you if I can help it, and if I do, I'll apologize straight off like I should. You've always been… the one of us who feels things, instead of sticking your foot in your mouth all the time, but… you used to be stronger. You were always the sentimental one, but… it's not like now, where you're so fragile it's like your heart's made of glass. So—from now on, I'm gonna take better care of you."

"Rosary…"

"If your heart's like glass now, then… I promise I'll protect it. I won't just wait until something breaks you, then stand around feeling bad while I let Yggdra and everyone else pick up the pieces. I'll protect you, Roswell."

"Rosary…" Roswell looked at her with a strange expression, then shook his head and smiled, looking faintly abashed. "…Doesn't this seem a little backward…?"

"This is a weird time for you to suddenly decide you wanna be all traditional and manly," Rosary told him, putting her hands on her hips and narrowing her eyes at him. "And let's face it, you need a nanny a lot more than anyone else in the Royal Army does, even Nietzsche, so I don't know where you get off acting ungrateful."

"Alright, alright." Roswell shook his head. "Forget I mentioned it."

Rosary rolled her eyes and pulled her cloak a little tighter around her shoulders, then walked back up to him. "We used to be friends, before we started making all our stupid mistakes. And—because I think we have a chance at that again if we try, I'll take care of you until you're back on your feet. Let's… have a fresh start, okay?"

"…………" In response, Roswell leaned in and put an arm around her shoulders, closing his eyes.

"Roswell?!" Confused and a little alarmed, Rosary turned towards him. He was smiling, though one cold tear clung to his lashes, ready to fall.

"Rosary… thank you," he said in a soft and husky voice.

Despite the cold, the two of them stood that way for a long time.

---

Kylier had barely wandered away from the company of Yggdra and Nietzsche when she ran into Nessiah in Karona's high-ceilinged halls.

"I was wondering where you'd gotten to," Nessiah told her with a smile, sounding pleasantly surprised. "So you've been hiding with your friends all this time?"

"What d'you mean, 'all this time'?" she retorted, giving him a playful swat in the chest. "And we haven't been hiding, either. Nietchan wanted to know more about White's Day, so we were telling her stuff while we were waiting for Elena and Flone to come back. Rosary said she wanted to spend more time with Roswell—who ever thought we'd see the day?—so it's not like we had much else to do."

"Regardless, I've been trying to track you down for a while now, and since I've finally found you, I've got something for you." As Kylier watched, curious, Nessiah extracted a small flat box from the voluminous folds of his robes and held it out to her. "It's been a while since I've done one of these—I hope it's enough to suffice?"

"Now you've got me feeling bad," Kylier said a little guiltily as she took the box. "All I did was give you the leftover cookies from what I gave Milanor. You didn't need to do anything fancy."

"But those weren't just _any _cookies," Nessiah pointed out. "You worked hard to be able to make them—you should be proud of your efforts. Besides, they were very good."

"Aww…" Kylier shook her head, embarrassed. "Stop it, you're making me blush. It was really no big deal."

"I could say the same here," Nessiah told her. "Go on and open it."

Still shaking her head, Kylier opened the lid and gasped, her eyes lighting up.

_"Pretty!"_

As she gaped wonderingly at the pair of bejeweled earrings sitting on a layer of black foam, Nessiah smiled. "I thought you'd like them."

"These are so _awesome," _Kylier gushed, carefully picking one out and holding it up to the light. From the sloped gold hook and two tiny chain links hung a line of four little jewels—two cerulean blue, the other two warm purple—and then a shimmery gold star that carried a multifaceted glint despite the fact that it was solid metal. "I'm totally impressed! Not only are these the cutest earrings I've ever seen, I don't think even _Milanor _knows my ears are pierced!"

As Kylier set the earring back down and took out the unobtrusive brass studs she usually wore, Nessiah's smile turned impish. "Well—I'd say I know you a bit better than Milanor does, Kylier. Remember, our souls were once linked, and even though all we could really feel then was our own pain at the violation of our minds intruding so violently on each other… we still carry residual spiritual impressions of each other."

Kylier nodded slowly. "…Yeah…" Her stomach turned at the memory; she'd felt a plunge of icy cold horror in her chest and then, without any warning, pain had ripped through her head like it had been splitting open. First her innermost soul had rippled like a shockwave, spilling dozens of jumbled old memories to the surface, and _then _there'd been the recoil and backwash of Nessiah's mind and soul into hers, and all the mind-shattering torment he'd ever suffered had fallen for all the world like leaden weight onto her body. After she'd been able to sort back and talk to Milanor and the others about it, she'd found that the shrill sound she'd heard over the roar of her own deafening shock had been Nessiah screaming.

It had been three and a half minutes of sheer hell, but… Kylier doubted she would give up the experience for anything. Without it, she wouldn't have her relationship with Nessiah, and that was worth a little pain.

After putting on her new earrings, Kylier made a face. "Now I feel really, _really _bad. Nessiah, you made these yourself, didn't you? And you went to all that trouble, when all I gave you…"

"I told you, it doesn't compare at all," Nessiah insisted, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Cooking is difficult for you, and you hate it. For me, making charmed accessories is easy, and it's something I enjoy. You struggled to learn something new, and I just did what I've been doing all my life. Cookies may not seem like much, and they disappear rather quickly, but what they represented meant a lot more to me."

Kylier hugged him. "Thank you…"

"Don't worry about it," Nessiah replied, returning the embrace. "Now, these are spelled for good luck and protection, so take care of them and they'll take care of you. In fact… why don't you test them out right now by heading out and trying to find Milanor? He's been looking for you with minimal motivation at least as long as I have, and I'm beginning to think that unless you chase him down, he'll never get to you."

Despite herself, Kylier giggled. "Are you two _ever _going to be able to get along?"

"Mmm… maybe." Nessiah grinned. "Once he gets off his high horse and stops attacking me on sight. …And once the fun of picking on him starts to fade."

"You're hopeless," she informed her friend, giving him one last squeeze.

"I know I am. Now—I hate to just run off like this, but it seems to me that Durant and Cruz will need some prodding to get things together and approach Yggdra, so…"

"Yeah, I know. Once you're done there, you better take a break, though," Kylier told him. "You've been wearing yourself out playing Cupid all this time."

"I know, I know. I will." He turned and left. Kylier stood watching as he went with an amused look on her face, even now not really sure how much of everyone's romantic success this year was because of him.

But then—she doubted that Nessiah would ever really be able to stop manipulating people. After all, that was just the way he was, and after living that way for so long, he probably couldn't change so quickly.

Well, just as long as he was acting in everyone's best interests, Kylier couldn't fault him for it.

Shaking her head at herself, she turned to head back in and make her excuses to Yggdra and Nietzsche. If Milanor was ever going to find her, she'd have to be somewhere pretty conspicuous.

---

Yggdra and Nietzsche were deep in discussion about the past White's Day presents the Queen had received in her childhood when the door creaked open to admit two former members of the disbanded Royal Army—the knight holding the new position of Queen's Champion, Durant, and the head of Karona's old archer squad, Cruz.

As the girls lapsed into curious silence and watched, the two of them turned to each other sheepishly and then looked away.

"You do it."

"No, you."

"But I don't know what to say."

"Neither do I."

"We can't just stand here."

"So say something."

"You do it."

"Come on, you wanna get yelled at by Nessiah again? Let's just—together now—"

"Is something the matter?" Yggdra interrupted, looking awkwardly from the big knight to the wiry archer. Both of them glanced at her, then looked away, embarrassed.

"Nietzsche knows, Nietzsche knows!" the undine announced suddenly. "This is for White's Day, isn't it? Isn't it? You're gonna give Yggdra her present now, right?"

"Nietzsche, hush," Yggdra said quietly, giggling.

Durant cleared his throat. "Ah—milady. This…" He and Cruz slowly brought out a beautiful array of brightly-colored flowers arranged in a wide, floppy woven basket.

"Oh!" Yggdra squealed and flew over to it. "Oh, how lovely!"

"Uh, this is from all us guys," Cruz said, scratching his head. "There's a flower in here from each of us. We didn't really have much idea what else to do, so…"

"Thank you!" Yggdra accepted the armful of basket and flowers, resisting the urge to squeal and bury her face in them to bask in the sweet scent. "Tell everyone I said thank you! Oh, they're so beautiful! They must be—"

"The last of the season, yes," Durant said, looking relieved. "We took what we could from the gardens and asked for the florists' assistance with the rest. We're very grateful that you took the time to think of us all this year."

"I love them," Yggdra gushed, giving in just a little and taking in a deep breath of the flowers' scent. "I'm going to go put them upstairs in my room right now! Thank you!" And off she went, practically floating with joy.

Durant and Cruz turned to each other and sighed in relief.

"Nessiah must've come up with most of that, right?" Nietzsche asked once she was gone.

Knight and hunter both hung their heads and nodded, ashamed.

Nietzsche giggled. "Humans are funny! Hmmm, maybe Nietzsche should try Valentine's Day next year. This time was a lot of fun to watch!"

---

"Uh, Kylier—"

She turned and broke out in a big smile, seeing Milanor coming up behind her with a very red face and a box tucked under his arm.

"Ah! Hey! I've been looking for you everywhere! Where've you been, you big silly?"

"I was. Uh. Um." Milanor shook his head. "A-ah, Kylier, can we just… go somewhere…?"

"Sure," Kylier replied, and ducked into an alcove. He followed her with a sigh. "And… what's with your hands, anyway?"

Milanor blinked at her, then looked down to the number of bandages on his fingers. "It's… it's nothing! I was… just a little clumsy the other day… that's all."

"…?" Kylier cocked her head to one side and gave him a quizzical look.

Milanor sighed and held out the box, clearly embarrassed. "Well—here. It's your White's Day present."

Kylier accepted the box with a smile. "Can I open it now?"

Milanor shrugged and looked around evasively. "…I guess."

Kylier balanced the box on her hip and undid the flaps, peering inside. Once she got a good look at the contents, she gasped in delight.

"Milanor, you didn't!!"

"Ah…"

"Oh myyyyy _Goooood!" _Kylier dropped the box in favor of what it had held, holding it up with a squeal. "So cute! It's so _cute! _I can't believe it! Ahhh, it's _perfect!"_

Milanor grimaced. "Damn that Nessiah," he mumbled under his breath. "Why's he always have to be right about everything?"

"Did you say something?" Kylier asked.

"No." Kylier knew Milanor would think better of repeating it. He knew she wouldn't let an unkind word be said about Nessiah without a fight, and would know that now wasn't the time.

"It's soooo _cute," _she squealed again. "And it looks just like Al! Milanor, where did you find it?"

Milanor looked first at Kylier, then at the green-and-bronze, button-eyed griffon plushie in her arms, then at a corner of the ceiling. "Well…"

Kylier gasped again, staring pointedly at his fingers. "Oh, no _way! _Don't tell me you _made…?"_

"Uh…"

"Oh my _God. _You can _sew?"_

Milanor turned red. "W-well…"

"No! It's _amazing! _I can't sew at all! And this is perfect, and you worked so hard even though you stabbed yourself a lot! This is so cool! I can't wait to show it off to everybody."

Milanor stared at the ground, obviously embarrassed. "Just don't tell them I… it's not manly, you know?"

Kylier rolled her eyes at him. "You are so _weird."_

"…whatever."

"Well… manly or not, _I _think it's cool." Shifting her new plushie in her arms, Kylier gave Milanor a quick hug, then took him by the wrist and pulled him back into the open. "Come on—let's go hang out for a while!"

---

Yggdra headed out into the hall from the Royal tower, finished arranging her floral gift to her liking, to realize that she had a guest—Gulcasa was leaning against the opposite wall, and from the way he straightened up when she took a few steps forward, he'd been waiting for her for a while.

"…Yggdra…" He shook his head, then looked at her with a serious expression. "Can I… talk to you alone for a while? There's something… I really need to tell you."

:to be concluded:

Notes on the text

**Where the heck are Russell and Flone?:** Uh… I'm trying to keep this story T-rated. I think that's all I'm going to say on the subject, okay?

**Roswell can cook?:** Hey, _I _think it's sexy. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.

**MILANOR can SEW?:** He has had to fend for himself for a while. That's kind of a skill you pick up out of sheer necessity, so why not?

**Roswell and Rosary did WHAT?:** He was 18, she was 16, they decided they wanted "experience" before they entered serious relationships, and decided they'd rather get said "experience" with a friend than some stranger. They didn't really consider what the emotional impact would be, and the event sort of estranged them. Plus their parents most definitely gave the two of them hell when they found out. Awkwardness prevailed, eventually becoming distrust and later dislike. And then Nessiah got involved, and we know the story from there.

**Vegan?:** Forgot to mention this last chapter, but it's true. Elena and Kylier are listed in the game as vegetarians and dislike eating meat. Vegans are generally somewhat stricter in what animal products they can and can't eat than vegetarians, and it differs from person to person. Some won't eat animal products altogether, which definitely makes _their _lives difficult. As far as we know neither Elena nor Kylier is in the super-strict vegan category.


	11. Gulcasa

Stupid Cupid

See disclaimer in part 1

As the Emperor and the Queen emerged onto the unmanned castle wall, Yggdra wrapped her arms around her chest and shivered. The temperature had dropped another five or ten degrees, and it was surprisingly cold outside.

Gulcasa looked back at her with concern. "Are you alright? Here—" he removed his scarlet cloak and draped it around her shoulders, pressing the clasp into her hands "—wrap up in this, it's getting nasty out here."

Yggdra nodded slowly in thanks and closed the clasp, stroking the back of her hand against the plush fabric in admiration—Gulcasa had good taste. "B-but… what about you…?"

Gulcasa favored her with a slight smile and shook his head. "I'm fine. The cold—never bothers me as much as it does everyone else. It's because of my blood—dragon's blood is much warmer than human blood, so… my body temperature is higher than an ordinary person's, even in weather like this. It's no big deal."

"I… see." Looking up at him, Yggdra tugged his cloak a little closer around her shoulders and carefully pulled her hair out from under it. "Gulcasa… what did you want to talk about?"

He looked at her, then away, placing his hands on his hips and staring out across the horizon. "I…" He sighed and shook his head slowly. "I… barely even know where to start, or how to say it… but I know I have to try. Nessiah made me promise that I would, and I've always trusted his judgment a lot more than my own. Yggdra, I…"

She stood silently as he looked at the stone beneath his feet, then sat on the crenelations of the wall and turned back towards her with a wistful smile.

"You know, I… since I was a kid, I've always had a really bad temper. My parents always told me since I was little that I had to make sure I could keep it under control, though—after all, growing up in a time where it was dangerous even to be _associated _with someone of Brongaa's bloodline, if I got too mad and said something that could give me away, it would've been the death of me and my family."

Yggdra nodded. "…I heard about the purges organized by my father and the old Emperor. That must've been terrible for you. I'm… sorry I never—"

But Gulcasa was already shaking his head. "It had nothing to do with you. You have nothing to apologize for. Anyway… I learned young to keep my head where it needed to be, and keep a rein on my emotions. Usually I've been good about it, especially as I got older, got stronger. If I lost it with a weapon in my hands… Well." He shook his head again, leaving it to Yggdra's imagination to fill in a possibility. "There've always been times when it was too much—when even with all my control, I couldn't keep it together and ended up taking it out on people around me—but usually, my temper's not too much of a problem.

"But, Yggdra…" His voice trailed off, and he looked away from her again, staring at the ground. "I…"

Yggdra took another few steps towards him, shivering with a chill that had nothing to do with the cold. "What is it?"

"You know the Ritual of Soul Unbinding?" Gulcasa asked suddenly, his golden eyes piercing as he glanced back up at her for a moment. "It never really got explained to you back then, but… long, long ago, Paltina's heirs and their magician allies fought and defeated Brongaa, but even with the Gran Centurio, the dragon couldn't be killed. So they tore Brongaa's soul from his body and bound it in what's known as Lost Aries now, leaving him in eternal sleep beneath my country. That's why it's called Bronquia—Land of the Sleeping Dragon. Even we—Brongaa's human descendants—knew that it would be dangerous to try to wake him, so we chose to rule in his stead, but we've always known how, if we ever had to.

"You see, the seal in Lost Aries was meant to be broken by blood—by the blood of Paltina's line, the monarchs of Fantasinia, _your _blood, and the blood of Brongaa's line… my blood. That's why we took you captive when we knew we might have to call on Brongaa's strength to save our land and destroy your Kingdom forever."

"But Brongaa wouldn't have stopped with just us," Yggdra said quietly, staring at her shoes. "He—would've destroyed _everything, _Gulcasa. Your country, mine, all human civilization… and nothing could've been done to stop him…"

Gulcasa nodded slowly. "I know that now. But—like I said, I wasn't thinking then. I let my desperation rule me, and because of that, I put my own people in the worst kind of danger. All I can do is regret my actions then. I can't change them, no matter how much I want to. …Anyway…

"Anyway, after your blood and my blood were given to the seal, I carried out the rest of that part of the ritual, so that Brongaa's soul could be awakened and carried in a mortal receptacle. Me. Of course—we didn't need you after that. If your friends hadn't come after you, we probably would've wound up killing you. Aegina and Luciana were _most _adamant that we dispose of you once your role was through, since I'd refused to let them take part, in case there were unforeseen dangers to the people involved in the ritual that had been lost over the generations.

"And then all that remained was to return Brongaa's soul to his body, at the altar above the abyss where he sleeps—where the old Flarewerk used to be." Gulcasa's eyes went dark as he stared into the distance, smiling bitterly. "The last part of the ritual, that we knew we couldn't complete unless we really had no other choice. Because in order for Brongaa to be free to awaken…"

"…The receptacle would have to sacrifice himself on that altar, spill his blood into the abyss, and die… freeing Brongaa's soul to send it back to the dragon's body," Yggdra said softly. "…You truly did… mean to kill yourself there, didn't you…"

"But you stopped me. And I… couldn't be more grateful," Gulcasa told her, finally meeting her gaze. "Brongaa took advantage of my grief and my despair to propel me towards something I really shouldn't have done, but you stopped me. You saved me. You saved us all."

"Gulcasa…"

"I couldn't be more grateful," he repeated, then lapsed into silence for a moment before hanging his head. "But… because the ritual was never completed… Yggdra…" He put a hand over his heart, clenching his fist on his shirt and bunching the black fabric in his hand. _"Brongaa is still inside me."_

He looked up at her, and her heart ached at the sickened, desperate pain in his eyes. "And—and even though there's no longer any way for Brongaa to return to his own body, since the Chamber was destroyed when Flarewerk burned… Brongaa has a body now, and—wants to keep it.

"It's… every day is a struggle, a battle for possession of this body. If—if Brongaa gets control of me again, I don't think I'll be able to fight him off a second time. All my emotions—anger, hatred, battle fever, lust, fear—they're so much harder to keep hold of. I'm dangerous, Yggdra. There've been times I've been nearly overwhelmed with fury, with hate, so that I have to struggle just to hold back the urge to kill. And if I let the way I feel get away from me, then—Brongaa will take advantage of that. I _can't _let him win.

"It's like being five years old again and unable to keep my temper in check, but so much _worse. _Only time can tell if I'll learn, the same way I did then, or if Brongaa will keep getting stronger and stronger until the day I'm overwhelmed and too exhausted to fight back. And until then—I have to keep my distance from you, to keep you safe."

"But, Gulcasa…!" Yggdra shook her head. "I can help you, I know I can! If you're struggling, then with the right support, you can—"

"You don't understand," he insisted. "That day we went riding together, and those bandits attacked us—I came _so close _to losing myself again in that fight, I could barely control myself, and, and Brongaa was just _right there _ready to take over the instant I slipped… and then you were there, so worried, so _helpless, _and all I could think was, 'Oh God, what if I snap and I hurt her?' Don't—don't get me wrong, Yggdra. You're strong. I _know _how strong you are. But you don't have the Gran Centurio anymore. You've sworn an oath never to fight again, and even if you could break that vow—that scepter you carry everywhere would be worthless in battle. You can't protect yourself anymore. So I have to protect you, and stay away until I _know _there's no threat in my being near you."

"But, Gulcasa—!" Yggdra protested. He held up a hand to cut her off.

"I… I just can't risk it," he said with a shake of his head, his eyes intense with torment. "Yggdra, I—I love you too much to put you in that kind of danger. If you were too close when I lost my temper, you could be seriously injured or killed." He stood up and paced a few steps back and forth, stopping in front of her. "And—and the heavens only know—I need you so badly it's like a, a sickness. Don't ever think I try to stay distant because I don't…" Even now, deadly serious as he was, Yggdra could see he was embarrassed saying it in the light flush on his face in the cold. "I want you, Yggdra. I want—I _need _to belong to you, my body as well as my heart. But—the way I am right now, I… I could hurt you so easily. I'd never be able to live with myself if that happened."

"Gulcasa…"

"But I'm _not _giving up," he said stubbornly. "It would destroy me to walk away from you forever. I'm—a danger to you, in this unstable state, but I have to believe that one day I'll be able to stand beside you, flawed as I may be. So…" He sighed, then pulled something out of his pocket.

Something cold touching Yggdra's cheek distracted her, making her look up, surprised. "It's snowing…"

Gulcasa tried a smile. "All the better, then." He held out his hand to her, and Yggdra stared at what lay in his palm, her breath stolen by wonder. "This is for you, as a promise. You know what they say—a white ribbon on White's Day, when the snow is falling…"

"…Brings everlasting love," Yggdra finished, smiling as tears started to sting her eyes.

"Here." Gulcasa reached behind her and pulled her black ribbon loose, handing it to her before replacing it with the white one. "I'll fix it for you. Your hands'll be too stiff from the cold. Since I've looked after my sisters for so long, I know how, so don't worry."

Yggdra stood still and let him tie it, basking in his closeness. She didn't think her heart had ever felt this full before, even after all the miracles she'd borne witness to.

"There." Gulcasa rested his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her, his expression so wistful it hurt. "This is a promise, you understand? I won't give up until I know I can be with you. I'll _never _give up."

"Gulcasa…"

"I love you," he said softly but fiercely. And then he leaned in and kissed her.

_Oh, my, _thought Yggdra as a bubble of nervous bliss exploded in her chest, for a moment too surprised to close her eyes. Then she did, with a soft sigh of surrender as she leaned into his arms. Time seemed to slow, and Yggdra tried to engrave every detail of every moment into her heart so that she'd never, ever forget a second of it: The achingly sweet warmth Gulcasa radiated, the faint tickle as strands of his hair brushed her face, the firm press of his lips on hers, his hand fisted in her hair like he never wanted to let go.

It was over in another heartbeat. Gulcasa pulled away with that same heartbreakingly sad smile, releasing her shoulder and stepping back so that her hands drifted off his chest, softly pulling his hand from her hair so that wisps and tendrils drifted off his fingers in a wheat-golden cascade. "Someday," he told her in a whisper, then turned and walked off, hands in his pockets.

As she watched him getting further and further off, something tore at Yggdra's insides. It was too much. It was just too painful, too _final, _and all she could do was stand there while her heart broke and he left her standing shattered here, her joy tumbling away in a rush.

_"No!"_

Her vision blurring with tears, Yggdra tore after him in a headlong sprint. He halted and turned at the sound of her voice, looking shocked, as she threw herself at him.

"Yggdra, what—" He only got that far before she went up on tiptoe and kissed him back.

After half a heart's beat of shock, Gulcasa eased her down, putting her arms around her and closing with gentle force as she parted her lips slightly against his. Yggdra shivered slightly as he deepened the kiss—apparently resolving to do the thing properly this time—and bent her back a little, shifting his lips on hers to give them a moment to breathe.

When they pulled apart and stared at each other, Gulcasa breathless and bewildered, Yggdra desperate and shaking, Yggdra's lips were throbbing slightly in time with her heartbeat. It took all her willpower not to reach out and start all over again—kissing Gulcasa was like breathing and drowning all at once, and more intoxicating than any wine—but she managed.

"Don't _do _that," she pleaded, her tears finally starting to spill. "Don't just say sad things like that and walk away! It—it feels like you're saying goodbye!"

"Yggdra—"

"I don't care," she exclaimed, cutting him off. "I love you. I love you! And I'm not letting anyone or anything get in the way of that—not the past, not the borders of our countries, not the people who are jealous, not the perceptions of what's 'appropriate' for monarchs like us, not Brongaa—_nothing! _I don't—think I can stand losing you. I love you. When you say you can't and walk away from me, I… feel like I can't face tomorrow anymore."

"I know—believe me, I _know," _Gulcasa told her, and his hands were shaking on her shoulders. "I just—don't want to risk losing you. I…"

"Fantasinia and Bronquia are no longer at war, but…" Yggdra shook her head. "This world we live in is still a dangerous place. Both of us could easily lose our lives just trying to rule our people, protect them, as is our duty. When we're faced with that… well, what else can we do but try? The thought of facing a future without you is frightening. Knowing that the _thing _that wanted to take your life away is still there inside you scares me even more. But—if we let our fear of making mistakes stop us from moving forward and taking what's ours, we'll only end up with regrets. So—if you want to wait before we, before we…" Yggdra could feel her face heating up and swallowed. "Before we—do anything like—going to bed…" There, she'd said it, and now _both _of them were the same color as his hair. "Well, then, that's fine for now, but—don't stop me from helping you fight the war you're waging inside yourself. If you fight alone… you'll only fall. And I won't be able to live with myself if I don't do what I can to support you."

"Yggdra…"

She looked up at him, saw the struggle on his face, then saw resolve settle into his eyes the instant before he leaned in and kissed her briefly.

"Gulcasa…"

"…Let's try it, then," he said softly. "Let's just try taking it slow, and see what happens."

"Okay," Yggdra said, giving him a teary smile.

Gulcasa took her hand and smiled back, then glared up at the sky. "…We should get inside before it _really _starts snowing and it gets too cold for us."

"…Yeah."

Hand in hand, they walked back inside. No matter what came their way, they were going to face it together.

**Owari.**


End file.
